Buccaneer Turned Hunter
by WhiteLightningWolf
Summary: Jarryd Starks has lived his entire life on the high seas with the pirate group known as "The Red Band". When Captain John Starks, his adoptive father, fearing that Jarryd might die an early death if he stays,makes a deal with Professor Ozpin to send Jarryd to Beacon Academy to become a Huntsmen, (WIP)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and welcome to the first Chapter of Buccaneer Turned Hunter,**

 **Most chapters will have certain POV's (point of views)...LET'S GET ON WITH IT**

 **Also since i'm new to writing, I probably won't start off great, but if you all could give me some pointers, it would be very much appreciated.**

Chapter 1

On a lone ship docked on the coast, Jarryd Starks, a 17 year old pirate has just awoken from his slumber, still tired from the night after where all of the crew had been celebrating their biggest plunder ever. He quickly got out of bed, got dressed in his attire, a long black trench coat, black sweatpants with a dark red belt over it, he also put on his iconic black bandanna tied around his spiky brown hair, which he was almost inseparable from. Next, he went to grab his weapons, his trusty revolver named Venom was tucked into his holster, and on his opposite side, his High-Frequency cutlass with a crimson blade, which he named Crimson Fury.

"Well...time to get to work." the brunette said, as he headed out of his cabin to the deck of the ship. Once on deck, Jarryd saw most of the crew of The Red Band, as the group was called, cleaning from last night's party. A man amongst the group saw Jarryd and ran up to him.

"Hey Jarryd, the captain wants to talk to you" said the man, who Jarryd identified as his best friend on the ship, Jack Daw "You better get going"

"Thanks Jack, Dad's probably gonna scold me for staying up so late." Jarryd replied as he remembered why he called him Dad. When Jarryd was born, his biological parents dumped him on a doorstep in a basket and knocked on the door. That was when captain John Starks, commander of The Red Band opened the door and quickly took in the child. Ever since, John had raised Jarryd into the pirate life, he even gave Jarryd his weapons,and unlocked his aura and semblance on his 14th birthday.

When Jarryd opened the door to the captain's quarters, he noticed his adoptive father talking to a man with gray hair, glasses, a green scarf and black suit. It took a minute for his father to notice he had walked in, but when he finally did, he spoke in a monotone voice.

"Jarryd, come sit down, we have something to talk about."

"Let me guess, i'm in huge trouble for staying up so late." Jarryd replied in a cheerful tone as he sat down.

"My boy, as you know The Red Band has become very infamous lately," The captain went on, ignoring the previous comment, Jarryd nodded his head slowly as he was confused to what his father was getting at. "as you could probably guess, more infamy means more people after our hides, i'm fearful that you will lose your life at such a young age"

"Dad, where are you going with this, and who is this man next to me" Jarryd said quickly, as he was a bit scared for what was about to come out of his adoptive father's mouth.

"His name is Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy" The man, now identified as Ozpin nodded his head as Jarryds eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Yes, THAT Beacon Academy...Ozpin here has heard of your combat prowess, and has an offer for you".

Ozpin then looked at the brunette, and smiled

"I'm asking you to join Beacon Academy for the next 4 years" Jarryd was stunned, there were 2 emotions flowing through him right now, Happiness at the fact that he was offered to attend the best institution for hunters-in-training, and Sadness, because if he accepted the offer, he would have to leave his father, current friends, and life he has known for 4 years.

He looked to his father for guidance.

"Lad, I want you to go and become the best huntsman you can be" Said the pirate captain, thus Jarryds mind was made up.

"Ok, I'll join Beacon." he said with a more cheerful tone, knowing that his Dad wants this for him.

"Splendid" Ozpin said happily at the news "an Airship will pick you up just north of the docks at 6 PM, I look forward to having you Mr. Starks." with that, Ozpin left the room.

"Jarryd, you will make not only me...but all of The Red Band proud" his father said pulling in his adoptive son for a caring hug.

"Thanks dad, I know I will…" The swordsman replied as his eyes started getting watery.

"Come, let's say your farewells to the crew."

6:00 PM

Jarryd and John were standing outside near a landing pad, ready for Jarryd to leave for Beacon, when an airship finally dropped down, the door opened revealing Professor Ozpin and a woman with blonde hair, glasses, a white dress, a purple cape and a blue skirt.

"Ready to go…" Ozpin said to the former pirate. Jarryd gave one last smile at his father and gave him a bear hug, after the display of affection to his parent, he finally turned around and nodded his head, going inside the airship, with Ozpin and the woman following behind him as a single tear rolled down both Jarryd and John's faces.

"I'll miss you Jarryd, bring a good lassy home with you" The pirate captain yelled at his son. Jarryd blushed at the remark, knowing his father just told him to get a girlfriend, and with that the airship doors closed and it took off…

Inside the Airship: 8:00

"We're going to be stopping at a hotel in Vale at 9:00, that way you can be ready for your initiation in the morning" the woman said to Jarryd. "By the way, my name is Glynda Goodwitch, combat teacher at beacon and Professor Ozpin's assistant"

"Pleasure to meet you , my nam-" he was cut off by Goodwitch.

"I already know who you are Mr. Starks, Ozpin has been very excited to have you as a student, just make sure you stay in line" Said Goodwitch as she gave the boy a stern look.

"Gotcha, I won't cause much trouble" Replied Jarryd.

'Awfully polite for a former pirate' thought Goodwitch

"Speaking of initiation…" Ozpin started "since you are a late student, you will be put on an already formed team, bringing it to 5 members"

"Then I pray I get placed with a good team" Jarryd replied with a smirk.

"If you get through initiation that is…" Ozpin stated as they arrived at the hotel.

Beacon Academy: Team RWBY's Dorm

"Goodnight Team RWBY!" Yelled a young girl to her 3 teammates.

"Goodnight" Replied the one with white hair

"Night" the 2nd girl responded, this one with black hair

"Night Rubes, sleep tight" the 3rd and finally one said, who had blonde hair, as all 4 girls went to sleep, well…...almost all 4 of them, the young leader of the team was still awake as she couldn't find a way to fall under sleeps spell. Word had been going around that there was going to be a new arrival at Beacon, and the girl, named Ruby Rose, had spent most of the day thinking about what they would be like,

'I wonder if they have a cool weapon?, will they want to be my friend?, who's team might they be on!?, so many questions that can be found out tomorrow' Thought Ruby, who with that thought, had fallen asleep.

 **Holy Crap that took longer than expected!**

 **Please make sure to review to ask me questions (that WILL be answered) and give constructive criticism, you can also vote on what you want the pairing with Jarryd to be,**

 **I'm putting in my vote as the first so our "Current" poll is**

 **JarrydxRuby: 1**

 **JarrydxYang: 0**

 **JarrydxBlake: 0**

 **JarrydxWeiss: 0**

 **JarrydxTeamRWBY: 0**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hola Compadres, I'm back again with another chapter, i'm trying to pump these out crazy fast, and I am gonna be making the chapters longer progressively over time once i get into a rhythm...anyways LET'S GET ON WITH IT**

 **Airship:**

Jarryd had spent the rest of the time on the airship to think about future plans at Beacon.

'So, first, get through initiation, 2nd, get to know teammates, 3rd, get a girlfrien- NO, Damn it Dad!' But that only made him think more, 'Will there be any girl here for me, if so...I wonder what she'd be like, well...I shouldn't think about that at the moment' As he kept on thinking, he was eventually brought out of his trance by Professor Ozpin.

"Mr. Starks, we have arrived…" said the headmaster before the aircraft doors opened, Jarryd stepped out of the airship to have a look at the academy.

"The crew wasn't exaggerating when they said the place was huge" he said as he did a quick whistle saying he was impressed.

"It's even bigger on the inside" Ozpin chuckled "Come, I have a room for you to be in while I get your initiation event ready". Ozpin then lead the boy to the training room "In here, make sure you get a good practice in, you might need it" and with those words, Ozpin left to prepare who-knows-what for Jarryds initiation, he decided to get in some practice swings with Crimson Fury, because whatever this "initiation event" was, he probably will have to fight one way or another.

 **Beacon Hallway:**

"Well team, what should we do with our day off!" Said an overly-excited Ruby

"First, Ruby calm down!, second, let's just get a good bit of training in" replied Ruby's white-haired teammate Weiss Schnee.

"I can't believe i'm saying this...but I actually agree with the Ice Queen on this one" Responded Ruby's blonde half-sister Yang.

"Yeah, I think after initiation, we are all a little rusty" Blake Belladonna, the 4th member of Team RWBY joined the conversation.

"Then it's settled, Team RWBY, to the training room!" Yelled the young leader, as she bursted down the hall in a flash of rose petals.

"Honestly Yang, how have you put up with her for so long?" Weiss asked the blonde.

"Eh, I don't know, she just grows on you" Yang replied before the whole team jogged down the hall to the training room.

 **Training Room**

Ruby arrived at the the training room in less than 5 seconds, when she turned the corner into the room, she saw a boy probably 2 years older than her with spiky brown hair, a black bandanna around his forehead, wearing a black trench coat, black sweatpants and a red belt and holster around his waist, and he was taking swings at a practice dummy with the coolest looking sword she had ever seen.

"Woah…." she openly gawked at the blade, it was in the form of a cutlass with a black handle and shiny red blade. Though to her dismay, the boy had heard her and quickly turned his head to see who had made the sound.

"Um….Hello" the brunette said to her, as she blushed knowing she had just been caught.

"I'm SO sorry I was staring, I mean I was coming down here with my team and I ran way ahead of them, and I turned the corner to find you here with the prettiest blade of all-time and-" she was then cut off by the swordsman.

"Woah slow down there, you were talking at a mile a minute" He said while chuckling "so you want to see my sword?" Ruby nodded her head vigorously as the stranger handed over his cutlass, she started to lightly swing at the air "just be careful, that's an old birthday present" Ruby was a tiny bit shocked that someone would give away such a weapon.

"who gave this to you" she asked eagerly waiting a response.

"My dad gave it to me when I was 14, along with this…" the boy replied as he also showed her a six shot revolver.

"Jeez what does your Dad do for a living?" she also asked giving back the sword.

"Well….he's kind of a-" that was all he managed to get out before a voice came from the rooms entrance

"Ruby! don't run that far ahead of us ever again!" Ruby looked back to see all 3 of her teammates trying to catch their breath, even Yang had collapsed.

"Sorry girls!" The team leader quickly apologized.

"it's ok Rubes, hey, who's the guy" her sister asked

"oh yeah that's right, I don't know your name, mine, if you couldn't tell, is Ruby Rose"

"Names Jarryd Starks, it's a pleasure" They were gonna talk more when the loudspeaker interrupted them.

"All teams please report to the auditorium, All teams report to the auditorium please." Ruby was disappointed at the announcement.

"Awww...well, guess we have to head out, See you later Jarryd!" Ruby yelled as she, and her team quickly left.

'Huh, weird bunch' Jarryd thought to himself when Professor Goodwitch came into the room.

"Mr. Starks, please come with me" She said walking out the door and Jarryd had to jog to catch up with her.

"Where are we going Professor, if you don't mind my asking" the former pirate asked

"Your initiation " She answered with a smirk.

 **Auditorium**

As Team RWBY filed into the crowded auditorium, they spotted 4 empty seats next to their dorm neighbors, Team JNPR.

"Hey guys!, any idea why every team was called down here, and why there is a fighting ring right there" Ruby asked the team as she had just noticed the arena right in front of the seats. The leader of JNPR, Jaune Arc, was the one to answer.

"It's that new arrivals initiation...or so I hear" He sheepishly replied.

"The new arrival!" All of Team RWBY said a bit surprised, especially Ruby, this was the moment she has been waiting for, all of her questions would be answered soon. Soon, Professor Ozpin went into the ring with a microphone and started speaking.

"Attention everyone, i'm sure you have heard that we have a new arrival" Almost everyone in the audience nodded "well you are right, and he will be tested today to see if he truly belongs at this academy"

'So it's a boy, I know that much' Ruby thought to herself, Ozpin started to speak again.

"So without further delay, please welcome our new student...Jarryd Starks" Ozpin pointed to the side of the ring where Jarryd, had entered with Professor Goodwitch.

"Jarryd!" Yelped Ruby "HE's the new guy!" Ozpin waited for the audience to quiet down before he continued

"Now, to test his skills...I will have him spar with another student, when the fight is over I will decide if Mr. Starks will join you all…." Ozpin then looked to the crowd "any volunteers?"

"I'll take him on!" said a masculine voice in the crowd, every head turned to see who had just challenged the newcomer, and every first-year student scowled when Cardin Winchester walked up to the ring

"Ah, Mr. Winchester, thank you for volunteering, now get to normal sparring positions" With that, Cardin walked to the opposite side of Jarryd and started taunting the brunette.

"Sorry newby, looks like you won't be joining Beacon today, you'll just have to crawl back where you came from, crying and thinking about what might have bee-

"You talk too much" Jarryd said cutting off Cardin's monologue."Can we just start the match, I wanna kick the crap out of this guy." Jarryd said to Professor Goodwitch.

"Of course Mr. Starks...Ready?" she looked to both combatants, Cardin in his fighting stance with his mace out, while Jarryd was just standing there, but they both nodded. "Fight!" she yelled as she lowered her hand. As soon as Cardin heard the go-ahead, he charged straight at Jarryd, who was still standing in the exact same spot

"You're dead meat!" yelled the mace wielder as he swung towards Jarryds torso, only for Jarryd to side-step away from Cardin, making him run into the ropes. When Cardin recovered he turned around, Jarryd was at the center of the ring with his sword drawn out. Cardin charged once again, except when he got close to the former pirate, he had spun around Cardin's armour and slashing at his backside, landing a hit, and taking off almost a third of his aura, the mace wielder quickly turned around, though in pain and started swinging at the cloaked figure in front of him, but every swipe Cardin took, Jarryd dodged every single one. Cardin swung for the head of the swordsman, but Jarryd ducked down, only to jump back up again, slashing Cardin's chest in the process, bringing Cardin's aura dangerously close to red, The brawler let out a quick yelp before flying backwards towards the ropes of the ring. With one last attack Cardin had to go for the kill, thinking this time it would work, Cardin charged one last time, this time, mace in front of him sticking out. Jarryd saw this and only smirked, as he rushed Cardin as well, but when the two met, Jarryd hurdled over the angry 1st year student. When Cardin stopped in his tracks to turn around, Jarryd sweeped the legs of Cardin, sending him briefly into the air, which caused Jarryd to punch him straight in the torso, bringing Cardin into the red, flying out of the ring, and with a cracked rib or two, bringing the match to an end. Knowing that he had just won effortlessly, he twirled his sword around in a showy fashion before sheathing the blade.

"The winner is Jarryd Starks!" Professor Goodwitch announced before Ozpin walked back into the ring. The crowd was shocked at what they had just witnessed, a new guy, beating one of the toughest first year students without taking a hit!, even the fourth year students were impressed.

"Congratulations Mr. Starks, welcome to Beacon Academy." Ozpin said while holding out his hand to the boy.

"Thank you sir" Jarryd replied shaking his hand.

"Come, let me give you a quick tour before you meet with your new team" Ozpin continued as he lead the new student out of the auditorium.

 **With Team RWBY**

They couldn't believe what they all had seen, Cardin Winchester, the school bully, going down in 3 hits!

"Oh….My….Gosh….That was awesome!" Ruby yelled to nobody in particular "I mean did you see the way he was moving around the ring, he dodged every single attack that Cardin brought his way, then the way Jarryd planned his strikes on him, he was just like hwaaa" Ruby started to make karate noises like in the movies "it was just super cool! I wonder which team he will be on, will we ever see him again?!" She yelled towards her sister.

"I'm pretty sure we will see him again sis, but for now just calm down, though that was pretty awesome" The blonde stated.

"Well I'm just glad somebody put Winchester in his place, knowing what he's done to other people, it's sickening" Weiss said jumping into the conversation. The conversation stopped as soon as they reached their dorm and started to do their own thing, Ruby was reading through a weapons magazine, Weiss was studying for her classes, Blake of course was reading her favorite book 'Ninjas of Love', and Yang was just taking a nap. at about 8:00 at night, they heard a knock on the door.

"Coming!" Yelled Ruby as she opened the door to reveal Professor Ozpin with Jarryd at his side. "Hey professor what brings you here with….Jarryd?"

"Ladies, this might come as a shock but, meet your new teammate" he said lightly pushing Jarryd inside the room.

"What!" The entire team yelled including Jarryd, even Yang who had woken from her nap.

"Well...have fun Mr. Starks" Ozpin smiled before leaving the room. All four girls looked to Jarryd, who they had just found out is the 5th member of the team. Ruby quickly ran up to Jarryd

"Welcome to Team RWBY Jarryd!" The young leader exclaimed enthusiastically "I suppose introductions are in order, since you haven't already met my other teammates." Ruby started pointing to each girl, telling them to say their names.

"Weiss Schnee" Weiss said with a stern look "and don't get any funny ideas while you stay with us mister!"

"Blake Belladonna" was all Blake said

"It's Yang, new guy" Yang stated with a grin

"Alrighty! Now tell us about yourself Jarryd, what did you do before you were accepted into Beacon?" Jarryd looked flustered for a moment, deciding whether to tell his new team if he was a pirate.

"Do you really want to know?" Jarryd asked the team as they all nodded their heads, Jarryd sighed and continued "If you must know...I used to be a pirate before I came here" After those words were said all the girls eyes had widened at the information.

"You're joking right….right?" Yang asked the man, who responded with a shaking head.

"I'm not joking before I came here, I was a member of The Red Band" Jarryd said looking at the floor, but Ruby ran up to him with her jaw hanging open.

"The Red Band...you mean THE Red Band! They are the most famous pirates on the seas of Remnant! How did you even join them?!" Ruby asked the former pirate looking at him with eyes of admiration. Jarryd chuckled as he answered her question.

"When I was born, my biological parents left me on a doorstep, when the captain of The Red Band, my adoptive father, found me and raised me as his own, I was raised to be a member since he found me" Jarryd told the girls.

"Well, that answers what you were before you came here, how about **why** you came here" Weiss asked, not trusting the new team member since figuring out the news that he was a former criminal.

"Just yesterday, my father called me into the captain's office, he was sitting in his usual chair with Professor Ozpin close by, he told me with all the infamy the group had gained, it wasn't safe for me out on the waters, so Ozpin offered me to come to Beacon for the next four years and here I am" Jarryd answered looking at Weiss

"I hate to cut our conversation short, but it's almost past curfew and we have classes in the morning" said Blake pointing to a clock in the room. Jarryd then looked at the 4 make-shift bunk beds. he then asked

"Plus, where am I gonna sleep?" he looked around for an answer when he could literally see the light bulb over Ruby's head, she then tossed him a blanket and pillow.

"Sorry Jarryd, but I think you'll have to sleep on the floor...is that ok with you?" she asked Jarryd with a tilted head, which Jarryd thought look it looked cute.

"Yeah, it's ok, I've slept in worse conditions, I mean, before this I was sleeping on a giant floating piece of wood." He answered in a joking tone, causing all the girls to giggle at the buccaneer

"Well, if that's settled, Team RWBY Plus Jarryd...to sleep!" Ruby yelled while jumping into bed "Night Girls"

"Goodnight" the girls all replied

"Night Jarryd" Ruby said to her new teammate

"Night Ruby" Jarryd responded to his new leader as he went into the bathroom to change into his pajamas. When he came out of the bathroom, all 4 girls were sound asleep.

'this is gonna be an interesting four years' the swordsman thought before he laid down on the blanket & pillow and drifted off into slumber.

(A/N, Right now, this is just before the Forever Fall sequence in volume 1)

 **Phew, that was a long one, let me do a word check real quick**

 **ONLY 2.6K!**

 **Holy crap how much free time do you people have on your hands to write this stuff, eh, I'll just have to grin and bear it, also I changed up my writing style a tiny bit, taking notes from other fics, which I think** **turned out well, I might go back and do the same on the 1st chapter**

 **Anyways I hope you all enjoyed and so far the pairing poll, is still where it was last chapter, but I am having a ton of fun writing this, constructive criticism is appreciated and recommended, and don't forget to vote on pairings**

 **CYA NEXT CHAPTER**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, i'm trying to get through the canon events of RWBY so I can have a little break to think of what to do next, so i'm gonna keep pumping out chapters this week**

 **LETS GET ON WITH IT**

 **Team RWBY's dorm**

Jarryd was having a nice dream about being back on the ship taking over a navy vessel

"Keep firing, we've got 'em wounded" His adoptive father yelled in his dream as he was up in the crow's nest ready to board the enemy ship, he was ready to jump, but a loud noise woke him up, the sound of a whistle

"Jarryd get up!" his team leader yelled "We've got classes in half an hour" Jarryd, not wanting to go deaf, did as he was told. He quickly got into his school uniform which consisted of a white undershirt, red tie,a black suit jacket and black pants. He had mixed feelings about the uniform, he admitted it looked nice, but it was a little tight on the men's uniform, not allowing much mobility. When he exited the bathroom, he noticed the rest of his team waiting for him in similar uniforms, the only real difference being a red and black checkered skirt.

"Ready to go?" Ruby asked the buccaneer in an enthusiastic tone.

"As ready as i'll ever be, which class is first?" Jarryd replied, only to be met with groans at the question.

"The most boring class of the day, Grimm Studies with Professor Port, who just keeps telling us stories from his childhood" Answered Yang, which the other 3 girls nodded as to say that she was telling the truth.

"Well...let's get it over with" said Jarryd with a small chuckle at the girls whining as Ruby lead the way to the classroom. When they arrived at the room with 5 minutes to spare, another team consisting of a 2 boys and 2 girls was waiting to greet them.

"Hey Girls" said the boy with blonde hair, completely ignoring Jarryds presence until the last second "W-why is the new guy with you…:" he said with a stutter, knowing that the person before him beat his bully without taking a hit.

"He has a name Jaune, and he's the newest member of team RWBY!" Ruby told the boy now identified to Jarryd as Jaune. He held out his hand to the scrawny kid.

"Nice to meet you Jaune, names Jarryd" He said while smiling at Jaune.

"N-nice to meet you too" Jaune replied shaking his hand very lightly, the rest of the team members behind Jaune came up to greet him.

"Hello Jarryd, I'm Pyrrha Nikos" Said the redheaded girl who Jarryd recognized from the cover of a cereal box he saw in a store a couple days ago, Next came a boy with black hair with a magenta strip in the front.

"Lie Ren, just call me Ren though" said Ren in a calm voice, while a person with orange hair jumped up from behind Ren.

"NORA!" she yelled, with somehow more energy than Ruby had ever shown him.

"Her name is Nora" Ren said with a smile, lightly laughing at his childhood friends antics.

"Very Nice to meet you all, but I think we should get in our seats" Jarryd said with a small smile and walked into the classroom, both teams following him. Team JNPR took their seats in the row just above Team RWBY, who sat in the front row of the class as the bell rang. A round man with gray hair and a red suit that looked like the ones the students were wearing, and then he started speaking

"Welcome class to another exciting day of Grimm Studies" The man Jarryd assumed to be Professor Port said while every student in the room groaned under their breath "is what I would normally say" everyone looked at Port trying to figure out what he meant, after a slight pause, he continued. "As you all probably know, we have a new student among us...Mr. Starks here" every eye that was on Professor Port turned to Jarryd "he has passed his initiation, but I have a test for him" out of all the eyes looking at him, he sense one certain pair burning into the back of his head, he guessed the one who he beat for initiation, Cardin Winchester was the cause of it. "Mr. Starks, would you please go back to your dorm and get your gear and meet the rest of the class in the courtyard" He looked at his teammates, asking if they know what's going on, they all looked at him and smiled until Blake answered his question

"Don't worry, Weiss had to do the same thing" Blake said assuring Jarryd, who got up, headed to the team dorm, put on his gear, grabbed his weapons, including the water bombs he hid in his trench coat, thinking he might need them, and headed out to the school courtyard, where Professor Port, and the other students were waiting for his arrival.

"Ah...Mr. Starks, there you are, are you ready to face your test head on and show you have a huntsman's spirit!" Yelled Port as he gestured him over to a fenced area.

"Yes sir!" Jarryd yelled back when he noticed a tall structure in the middle of the fenced off area covered by a white sheet, and growls coming from it, meaning that it was most likely a creature of Grimm, something he hasn't fought in quite some time. The students took their seats on a nearby bleacher that was set up for the students to watch his "test". Jarryd took his position at the end of the fenced area as the Professor grabbed a hold of the white sheet.

"Well then Mr. Starks, I hope you're prepared for-" He started as he pulled the sheet of revealing a cage containing one of the larger creatures of Grimm "fighting a Beowolf!" Port finished as the Beowolf in the newly revealed cage roared at the sight of the sunlight after being under that sheet for who knows how long. Then, the creature laid its eyes on Jarryd, it roared again, as if knowing it was going to fight him. Professor Port then backed up from the cage and pulled out a remote control, which was connected to the cage lock. "Ready Mr. Starks?" Jarryd looked at his teammates, Ruby was cheering on Jarryd with Yang, Weiss just smiled and nodded, and Blake was waving a tiny flag that had the team name on it. The brunette smiled, then turned to Professor Port and nodded. "Then, let's begin!" He exclaimed as he pressed the button to unlock the cage. The Beowolf, knowing it had been freed bursted out of the cage and got into a small staredown with Jarryd as Port exited the fighting ring, that was when the Beowolf roared and charged at the pirate at a surprisingly fast speed. Jarryd, thinking that this fight started like the one with Cardin, tried side-stepping but unlike Cardin, the creature was ready. The Grimm swiped its claws to where Jarryd was going, he saw the attack and acted fast, by jumping over the arm of the Grimm, and attempting to slice its shoulder, though unfortunately, when he sliced with Crimson Fury, he accidentally hit the armored spike protruding out of its elbow. Knowing his attack had failed, Jarryd landed and ran to the end of the fence, as the Beowolf chased after him, it stopped about 10 yards from where Jarryd had stopped, roared and charged again, quickly thinking of a plan, he charged as well, but instead of attacking, Jarryd slide through the legs of the creature, causing it to stop and turn around.

"Gotcha!" Jarryd yelled, as he pulled out Venom and shot twice, 1 shot at both eyes, which hit with incredible accuracy, blinding the Grimm and making it bring its hands up to its eyes. "Game over ugly" he quietly said to the creature as the swordsman took a water bomb out of his jacket, and threw it at the ground beneath the Beowolfs head, spilling water all over the ground. Jarryd then activated his semblance, and cause the water to jet up into the Grimms chin, causing the head to jerk backwards. That's when Jarryd moved in for the kill, he slashed at the Beowolfs unprotected legs, causing it to stumble, then jumped and slashed at the chest like he did with Cardin, but this time Jarryd grabbed the head of the creature and used gravity to bring its head down, when the buccaneer forced its head to go in between its legs, he swung himself upwards while upside down. Time seemed to slow down as Jarryd was able to freely slash at the Grimms unprotected back, slicing the Beowolf in half,the body then dissolved into smoke as Jarryd landed upright, and sheathed Crimson Fury. As he turned around to face the crowd, and thunder of catcalls and applause reached his ears, the sounds of course coming from the crowd, the most applause coming from his own team, as Ruby was jumping up and down, everyone else was standing and clapping….except for 1 team, Cardins team, who had stern looks on their faces, but Cardin had a small smirk that did not go unnoticed by Jarryd, but it didn't matter now. When Jarryd exited the arena, he was greeted by Professor Port.

"Splendid job my dear boy, you will definitely make a fine huntsman!" he said while giving Jarryd a pat on the back, then the teacher looked towards the bleachers "That's all for today, class dismissed" and with that, Jarryd started walking towards his team when Ruby ran up and tightly hugged him and talked at a very fast pace

"That was awesome Jarryd! that thing was like 'Grrr' and you were like 'not today!' and then you shot it in the eyes and you made that water go into its face, then you flipped and sliced it in two!" She then realized she was still hugging the brunette, she blushed madly and let go "sorry bout that" she apologized as Jarryd had a light blush on his face as well

"It's ok Ruby, I don't mind" Jarryd sheepishly said. Yang, seeing the small sign of affection towards her sister, nearly put her in protective sister mode, Weiss saw the near transformation and wanted to change the subject, so she asked a quick question

"Speaking of water, how did you propel it up like that Starks" Weiss asked, causing all the girls on the team to look towards Jarryd for an answer.

"that's my semblance, Hydrokinesis" he stated proudly as Ruby looked confused after hearing the word.

"Hydra-what-now?" the young leader asked, clearly not knowing what the word meant or how to say it.

"Hydrokinesis, In other words, I can control water" Jarryd answered with a slight chuckle at his leaders confusion, it looked really cute to him, then he mentally slapped himself 'No Jarryd! do not think those thoughts about your leader, I think she's even younger than me'

"Ooooooh, I get it now" Ruby stated as all the other students started heading to lunch, Jarryd, noticing he still had his normal clothes on told the team to head to lunch without and he would meet them there, they agreed and headed down to the cafeteria, Jarryd headed up to the dorm, to get dressed back into his school uniform, what he did not know, was that two sisters were having a chat about him in the cafeteria.

 **Cafeteria**

Team RWBY had just gotten their food and found a empty table, Team JNPR eventually joined them and sat on the opposite side of the table as they had to listen to Nora telling the group about a dream she had, with Ren sitting beside her, correcting the errors.

(A/N, I couldn't remember what she said and I'm to lazy to go back and watch)

Meanwhile, Ruby was muching on her cookies in delight, when Yang decided to bring up what happened in the courtyard.

"So...Ruby, what was that all about in the courtyard?" Yang asked in a teasing manner, but Ruby didn't understand what she meant,

"What do you mean Yang?" Ruby mumbled because of her mouthful of cookies.

"You and Jarryd...hugging, you know…" Yang said whispering in Ruby's ear, when she figured out what Yang meant, she started to blush the same shade as the trim of her weapon.

"I-I was just h-happy that he killed the Beowolf" Ruby stuttered after she swallowed her cookies.

"Really….cause I think somebody might have a little crush on our pirate teammate" Yang said putting emphasis on somebody, hinting at her

"W-what?! No I don't…" Ruby retorted while looking down.

"Suuuuure you don't, Ruby" Yang said in a sarcastic tone, it was after that when Ruby started to think.

'Do I like Jarryd, I mean I've only known him for a day, yet we seem to be really close, I'm even blushing when I think about him'

"Hey, have I missed anything" Both teams turned around to see Jarryd walking towards them, back in his school uniform.

"Nope, there might still be some food left for you up there Jarryd" Yang said while smiling at the boy.

"Sweet, I'll be right back" He replied and went up to see if there was any food left for him.

"Jaune are you ok?" Pyrrha asked Jaune who was pushing around the food on his plate.

"Yeah, why?" Jaune asked coming out of his stupor.

"Because you seem…..not ok" Ruby answered forgetting about her talk with Yang

"Guys I'm fine, seriously, look" Jaune replied with a small smile, a thumbs up, and a nervous laugh

"Now I'm no genius, but i'm pretty certain that you're lying" Said Jarryd who made his way back to the table with only an apple and a glass of milk "Yang, you lied, this was all that was left"

"Sorry…" Yang replied with a sheepish grin. Right after, both teams heard an obnoxious laugh coming from a couple tables away, coming from none other than Cardin Winchester and his band of idiots, mocking a girl with rabbit ears.

"Anyways Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school" Pyrrha continued.

"Who, Cardin, Naw, he just likes to mess around, you know...practical jokes!" Jaune stated.

"He's a bully" Ruby replied to Jaunes defensive comment.

"Please name **one** he's bullied me?" He asked putting air quotes around 'bullied'. The group proceeded to list off events that happened before Jarryd had arrived at Beacon, including one where Jaunce was shoved into a rocket propelled locker and sent to a random location. "I didn't land far from the school" Jaune said defensively.

"Jaune, if you ever need help you can just ask" Pyrrha began to plead with her teammate.

"Oooh, We'll break his legs" Nora said in a sadistic way.

"Guys, it's fine, besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everybody" Jaune said while getting up from the table with his tray.

"OW! That hurts!" Came a yelp from the girl at Cardin's table, Team RWBY and JNPR looked to the table to see Cardin pulling on the young girl, who Jarryd could tell was a faunus's ears. "Please stop" she said quietly.

"I told you they were real!" Cardin said to his teammates.

"what a freak!" one of his teammates replied, with that, Cardin finally let go of her and the girl walked of with her tray, clearly still in pain. Jarryd was ready to kick Cardins ass again, but it went against his better judgement.

"Atrocious, people like him" Pyrrha said disgustingly at the scene before them.

"He's not the only one" Blake said, also clearly irritated.

"It must be hard to be a faunus" Yang said, wonder what kind of other daily tortures they went through.

"Yeah, I've met quite a lot of faunus before I came here, and they were really nice people, they don't deserve that kind of treatment" Jarryd said holding in his anger, Blake gave a soft smile after hearing her teammate say that. After that, Jaune just got up and walked away with his tray sighing. Next class on the schedule, was history with 'Doctor' Oobleck, the teacher who was hyped on coffee, where Jaune and Cardin both got in trouble, and they both owed Oobleck an essay, the class went by fairly quick. After the class Cardin shoved Jaune out the door, while Pyrrha rushed to help him,

"You know, I really will break his legs" Pyrrha said to Jaune, while pulling him up off the ground, "I have an Idea, here come with me" With that Pyrrha dragged Jaune to the rooftops

"Pyrrha, I know I'm going through a hard time right now, but i'm not that depressed" Jaune said to a confused Pyrrha "I can always be a farmer or something" Pyrrha finally caught wind of what Jaune meant.

"No! That's not why I brought you up here" She softly yelled at Jaune, "Jaune, I know you're having a difficult time in class, and you're still not the strongest of fighters so…" Jaune wondered where Pyrrha was going with this "I want to help you!" She said with a smile

"What" Jaune mumbled.

"We can train up here after class where no one can bother us!" Pyrrha replied, trying to get Jaune to understand

"You think I need help" He retorted a tad bit annoyed

"No! that's not what I meant" She tried to plead

"But you just said that" he said getting angrier by the second

"Jaune, everybody needs a little push from time to time" Pyrrha replied also annoyed with the stubbornness of Jaune "It doesn't make you any different from the rest of us, you made it to Beacon, which speaks volumes of what you are capable of" She continued, calmed down a little bit

"You're wrong" was all that Jaune said "I don't belong here"

"That's a terrible thing to say, of course you do!" Pyrrha told him in a calm manner

"No I Don't! Jaune yelled at her, he calmed down a little bit and told her what he meant "I wasn't really accepted into Beacon"

"What do you mean" Pyrrha asked, clearly confused

"I didn't go to combat school, I never took a test, I got my hands on some fake transcripts and I lied" Jaune told her in a somber manner

"But why!" she asked him.

"Because my father, grandfather, his father, they were all heroes, and I wanted to be one too" Jaune explained himself

"Then let me help you!" Pyrrha replied grabbing.

"I don't want help!" he yelled back at her "I don't want to be the damsel in distress, I want to be the hero"

"Jaune I-" Pyrrha tried to get out but he cut her off

"I'm tired of being the lovable idiot stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives, if I can't do this on my own, what good am I?" He told her as she tried to reach out but he backed away. "Just leave me alone" he said, looking at the ground. Pyrrha gave up.

"If that's what you think is best" she said in a somber tone, with that she left to her dorm

"You should really give her a chance to help you Jaune" came another voice from where Pyrrha had left, Jaune looked up to see Jarryd, staring at him,

"Gah! how long have you been there" He yelled, surprised, knowing that another person might know of his secret.

"Since you said 'you think I need help?'" He said as Jaune looked to the ground, "Jaune...Pyrrha's right, everyone needs a little push, one way to prove that you belong here is by working hard, and letting your teammates help you"

"Says the former pirate, who's had a crew around him his whole life" Jaune retorted

"How did you know about that" Jarryd questioned.

"Ruby told us while you were fighting the Beowolf" Jaune answered.

'I'll have to talk to her about that later' Thought Jarryd, "Yes Jaune, I've had a crew around me my whole life, and they helped me, and look where I am now! Jaune, I may not be able to convince you to change your mind, but I can tell you this, you can't do everything by yourself" With that, Jarryd headed back to his team's dorm room, leaving Jaune by himself, or so he thought.

"So...now that pirate boy is gone, WE can talk now Jauney-boy" said a third voice coming from behind Jaune, he turned around to see none other than Cardin Winchester

"Cardin!" Jaune yelped in surprise.

"I couldn't help but overhear you from my dorm room, so you snuck into Beacon, I never expected you to be such a rebel, Jaune" Cardin said in a mocking tone.

"Cardin, please don't tell anyone" Jaune pleaded with his bully

"Jaune, come on, I'd never rat on a friend" he said walking up to Jaune

"A f-friend" Jaune replied a bit surprised that Cardin thought of him that way, Cardin ended up putting the blonde in a headlock

"Of course we're friends now! and the way I see it, as long as you are here for me when I need you, we'll be friends for a long time" he told Jaune, then threw him to the ground, "that being said, I didn't have time to do the readings Oobleck assigned us, think you could 'take care of that for me' buddy" he said rubbing Jaunes head, Jaune had no reply "That's what I thought, don't worry Jaune, your secret is safe with me" Cardin said in a threatening tone before climbing down back to his dorm, leaving Jaune alone on the roof

 **Team JNPR dorm room**

"How come Jaune gets home so late?" asked Nora who was jumping up and down on her bed.

"He has become scarce since he's gotten friendly with Cardin" Ren added on as he was looking over his weapons

"Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow" Nora continued with a frown "we need our rest" that was when Pyrrha joined in, sounding angry.

"I'm sure our leader knows exactly what he's doing" Pyrrha said, having no idea that Jaune was spying on their conversation through the door,

"Hey Jaune!" he heard a voice say behind him, he turned around to find Ruby there in her pajamas. "long time no see, did you lock yourself out again?" she question with a smile.

"Uhh...nope…" he answered pulling out his scroll "got it!"

"So...where ya been lately" she asked another question

"I uh...I messed up" Jaune admitted knowing he was in a losing situation, "I've done something I shouldn't have and now Cardin's got me on a leash and Pyrrha won't talk to me" he sighed "I think coming to this school was a bad idea...:" Jaune finished as he collapsed against the door "I'm a failure" he mumbled

"Nope." was the only response he got

"Nope?" he asked, confused about what she meant.

"Nope, you're a leader now Jaune, you're not allowed to be a failure" She said with a smile.

"But what if I fail at being a leader?" Jaune asked her again.

"Nope!" was the response he got.

"you know, you're not the easiest person to talk to about this kind of stuff" Jaune chuckled

"Nope, Jaune, maybe you were a failure as a kid,and maybe even the first day we met" she told the hooded soldier, only making him sink deeper into the floor "but you can't be one now, you know why?" Ruby asked.

"Uhh….Becaus-" he tried to get out but was cut off

"Because it's not just about you anymore, you have a team now we both do!" she said in a cheerful manner "and if we fail, we just bring them down with us, we have to put our teammates first, and ourselves second" she continued "your team deserves a great leader Jaune, and I think that can be you, have a good night!" she finished going back into her dorm room. Jaune was about to do the same, when he got a message on his scroll...from Cardin.

"Hey buddy, it's Cardin, I hope you got that assignment done, cause I need you to get me a bag of rapier wasps" Jaune gasped "and make sure they have real big stingers, it's important" Cardins message finished as Jaune closed the scroll and went out to get the wasps as told.

Team RWBY's dorm

Ruby had just walked in from her talk with Jaune, she looked around noticing all of her teammates were asleep, she quickly jumped into bed and dozed off as well. Actually, one of her teammates was still slightly awake, Jarryd had heard her talk with Jaune through the wall, and was very proud of her due to the things she had told the blonde leader. Before he went to sleep he got lost in thought about his leader.

'She definitely knew what she was talking about, now that I think about it, she's pretty cute...wait a minute, oh god, am I crushing on my team leader?, I've only known her for a day! No...no, I'm fine...besides, I don't really want a relationship' He got one last glance at the sleeping form of his team leader 'Do I?' and with those final thoughts the former pirate drifted off into sleep

 **AAAAAANNNNNNDDDD DONE!**

 **My goodness, this took most of the day to write,**

 **Also...Yeah I decided i'm not gonna do a pairing vote, since nobody was voting, so i'm gonna make this an official Jarryd x Ruby pairing!**

 **Remember to review with constructive criticism (always appreciated) and questions you can ask me, anyways goodnight y'all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**What is good everybody, I decided I needed to get at least one more chapter out before friday cause I have a TON of crap to do, School sadly comes first, because I have a field trip on friday to Chicago, then the day after, I have to perform in front of a couple judges at 8:00 and I am in a musical production so I have rehearsals for that as well. This chapter will cover both the Forever Fall bit and a bit of the White Fang part (I don't remember what they called it)**

 **Anyways...with that being said...LETS GET ON WITH IT!**

 **Beacon Academy entrance (this is right before they go to Forever Fall)**

Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL, were busy getting geared up for the trip to Forever Fall

"Pyrrha, I need to speak with you for a moment" Jarryd said to the red-headed girl.

"Of course Jarryd, what do you need?" Pyrrha asked in reply.

"It's about Jaune…" At the mere mention of the name of her team leader, the four-time tournament champion scowled as Jarryd continued "I know what's going on...I overheard you two on the roof". Now, Pyrrha was shocked, worried that Jarryd might have told a higher up. "Don't worry, I haven't told anyone, after you left, I had a small chat of my own with the guy" the former pirate reassured her.

"What did you say to him?" Pyrrha looked towards Jarryd for a straight answer.

"I told him straight and simple that he can't do everything on his own, nobody can, i'm just hoping that I somewhat got through to him" he answered as they both looked to see Jaune being put in a headlock by Cardin, a scowl coming to Jarryds face as he looked on.

"Attention everyone! we are now leaving for Forever Fall!" Yelled Professor Goodwitch to the three teams.

"Well...I should probably get back to my team...talk to you later Pyrrha" The buccaneer said as he walked back to his team.

"Thank you...Jarryd" Pyrrha whispered to herself, while watching Ruby talk to Jarryd as they started walking outside the academy, noticing a slight blush on the former pirates face as he was walking beside the young girl 'does Jarryd have a crush on Ruby? Now that I look at it, they look cute together' Pyrrha thought before she as well walked beside Ren and Nora, Jaune being forced to stay by Cardin.

 **Forever Fall**

"Yes students, the forest of Forever Fall is indeed beautiful" Professor Goodwitch told the three teams as Ruby was looking at the red trees as they were the most beautiful thing in all of Remnant, Jarryd had chuckled at the scene slightly before Ms. Goodwitch continued "but...we are not here to sightsee" she said with an eye on Ruby "Professor Peach has asked you all to collect samples from deep inside the trees inside this forest, and I am here to make sure that none of you die while doing so." Jarryd was surprised at the calm manner at the mention of death the combat teacher had. Suddenly, Professor Goodwitch, quickly turned to them, causing everyone to stop at the sudden movement… except Jaune, who had been carrying all their supplies, kept walking and ran into the back of Cardin. Cardin turned around to give the blonde a stern look, Jaune just turned his head away and started innocently whistling "Each of you is to gather one jars worth of red sap" Goodwitch continued, as she pulled a jar of the mentioned red sap from behind her back "however...this forest is full of the creatures of Grimm, so be sure to stay by your teammates" The girls of Team RWBY all looked at each other with a smile, while Jarryd looked at Jaune, wondering if he was going to do the same, or go with Cardin "We will rendezvous back here at 4:00, have fun!" Professor Goodwitch finished as each student started heading towards their own respective team.

"Come on buddy, let's go!" Cardin said, grabbing Jaune by the shoulder as Jarryd gave him a look of sympathy before the mace wielder dragged Jaune off. Pyrrha was also looking Jaunes way as well, but quickly left to follow Ren and Nora. Jarryd soon did the same, following after his own teammates.

 **With Team RWBY**

Jarryd had started his collecting on his first tree, right next to all his teammates.

"You looked bothered by something Jarryd" He looked to his right to see Ruby at the tree not two feet away from him, also collecting sap. Jarryd blushed at how close his leader was to him as he remembered his thoughts from the night before.

"It's nothing…" Jarryd replied in a somewhat monotone voice, the scythe wielder only chuckled.

"You are terrible at lying you know that?" Ruby stated with a smile, causing Jarryd to do the same. Before he knew it his tree was out of sap, and his jar was halfway full. The 'swashbuckler', as Ruby had called him before they left for Forever Fall, quickly moved to the tree to his left, wanting to stay close by his team leader. Then, as luck would have it his jar was quickly filled up, as Ruby had moved to the tree to his left to finish collecting her jar full. Ruby had been trying to turn the tap on the tree so the sap would come out, but the knob wouldn't budge. Deciding to help out the young girl, Jarryd placed his hand over hers, which was on the tap knob, causing both teens to blush, and with one turn, the knob had twisted.

"There, now you should be set." Jarryd said, facing Ruby, still blushing as they both let go of the tap.

"Thanks Jarryd" Ruby replied as she had turned to face her helper, also having a slight blush. They stared at each other for about 10 seconds, which to them seemed like an eternity. Then, someone made a catcall towards them.

"Yo! Rubes, Pirate-boy! get over here, we have our jars filled!" Yelled the unmistakable voice of Yang. Jarryd and Ruby finally got up, gave one last smile to each other, and walked over to the rest of the team.

 **With Jaune and Team CRDL**

The members of Team CRDL were calmly laying on the red leaves that had fallen from the trees above. Jaune had eventually joined up with them, having to had collected all of their sap jars and 2 extras. When Jaune reached the center of the circle CRDL was sitting in, he dropped everything and collapsed.

"Great work Jauney-boy…" Cardin started "that wasn't too hard, was it? he had asked the fallen blonde, who had gone cross-eyed

"I think i'm allergic to this stuff" Jaune replied sounding a tad bit nasally.

"Great! Now Jaune, I bet you're asking, yourself 'why did my buddy Cardin ask me to collect 7 jars of sap, when there is only 5 of us?' " Cardin said, imitating what he thought Jaune would sound like.

"That's one of the many questions I have asked myself" he replied, still on the ground, he sat upright as Cardin continued.

"Well...come with me, and you'll find out" Cardin finished with a mischievous grin, as he lead Jaune and his other teammates to a cliff, overlooking the other two teams. Jaune, worried and confused, asked Cardin a simple question.

"Cardin...what's going on?"

"Payback…" was the only answer the blonde got.

"Pyrrha...and Jarryd" Jaune said as he noticed them both close by, Pyrrha filling up her jar to full, while Jarryd was simply leaning against a tree, taking a nap.

"There they are...the red-haired know-it-all and the pirate-boy who thinks he's so tough" said Cardin with anger in his voice before pulling out the box of rapier wasps that Jaune had gathered. "Ok boys...Jaune here has rounded up an entire box of rapier wasps for us, and now, we are gonna put 'em to work" Cardin finished as another member of CRDL, Russel Thrush, slapped Jaune on the back as realization hit him like a small truck. "Now, according to one of the essays you wrote for me, these guys loooove sweets, and I think it's time we taught those two a thing or 2" Cardin said, pointing at Pyrrha and Jarryd "and **you** are gonna do it, hit 'em with them sap!" Cardin finished before throwing the 2 extra jars of sap into Jaunes hands. "either you do that, or I have a little chat with Goodwitch, and you'll be on the first airship out of Beacon" Cardin threatened before backing away from Jaune with his team. Jaune then turned to face where Pyrrha and Jarryd both were, taking aim with one of the jars, until Jaune had had enough.

"No…" The team leader softly said before lowering the jar.

"What did you just say?" the bully asked, leaning in to make sure he had heard Jaune correctly.

" I said…..NO!" Jaune yelled as he chucked a jar of sap at Cardin, which broke upon contact with the mace wielders armour, leaving a pink stain, Cardin then laughed evilly.

"Oh...you've done it now!" Cardin said before he and his team started to wail on the scrawny blonde. "You know that wasn't smart Jauney-boy" Cardin continued as he punched Jaune straight in the face, I'll make sure you're sent back to mommy, in teeny, tiny pieces" he finished, pulling Jaune up by his collar, who had received a black eye from the previous hit.

"I...I don't care what you do to me…" Jaune had managed to get out. "but you are **not** messing with my friends…"

"Hah, you think talk like that scares me, you think that makes you tough, think you are a big strong man now?" Cardin said in a taunting manner as he went to hit Jaune in the face, once again, which had been blocked by Jaune's aura. Cardin yelped out in pain as he dropped Jaune and held the hand he used to hit him, who had smiled for a small moment, but had ended up being kicked in the back by Sky Lark. "Now...let's see how much of a man you really are…" Cardin said threatening Jaune, but was cut off by a loud roar coming from their right side. They had all turned to see a gigantic creature of Grimm, which was soon identified as an Ursa. The Ursa then took a swipe at Cardin, knocking him down to the ground.

"Thats a big Ursa!" one of the members of Team CRDL yelled as they ran deep into the forest, leaving Cardin and Jaune all alone. Jaune managed to get up, only to see a mace rolling towards him, he looked forward to see Cardin being looked down upon by the Ursa.

With Teams RWBY and JNPR

Everyone had heard a loud roar coming from somewhere in the forest, even Jarryd heard it, causing him to be startled awake.

"Um...what was that?" Jarryd had asked everyone, who was just as confused as he was. Then, the 3 members of Team CRDL ran out from the trees.

"URSA! URSA!" Russel had yelled while running, only to be lifted up by the collar by Yang.

"What! Where!?" She quickly asked the scared boy as he pointed behind him.

"Back there, It's got Cardin!" Russel had yelled, causing Pyrrha and Jarryd to look at each other with wide eyes.

"JAUNE!" They had yelled at the same time, Ruby, knowing she was the leader in the situation, quickly came up with something.

"Yang, you Blake, Ren and Nora go get professor Goodwitch, the rest of you are with me, we're going to save Jaune" Ruby said as everyone nodded at her plan.

 **With Cardin and Jaune**

The Ursa had been chasing Cardin around the area non-stop, and showing no signs of taking a break. The Ursa then jumped in front of Cardins path, hitting and knocking him to the ground as Cardin silently cursed to himself. Ruby, Pyrrha, Jarryd & Weiss eventually arrived to see the ass kicking that Cardin had been on the receiving end of.

"Oh no…" Pyrrha cried out as the Ursa took a killing swipe at Cardin, which would have hit...If Jaune didn't block it with his shield at the last minute. Everyone was surprised at what they had seen, Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha had readied their weapons, when Jarryd put his hand out in front of them.

"Wait." He said, causing the girls to look at the buccaneer in confusion "Jaune's got this!" He finished with a smirk. Jaune had eventually slashed upwards at the Grimm with his sword, causing it to stumble backwards and punching the ground where the soldier was standing, causing Jaune to roll to the side, the beast then tried swiping at the legs, which Jaune easily hopped over, but the Ursa was prepared, knocking Jaune out of the air with its other arm. the leader of JNPR had fallen to the ground, but quickly got back up again, and charged at the creature, only to be knocked over again by the sheer force the Grimm had hit him with. Jaune then took a peek at his aura-gauge, seeing it very close to the red area, Jaune didn't have much time to think though as the Ursa charged once again, looking to end the fight. Jaune also charged at the beast, sword behind his head, ready to strike at the creature, but he didn't take into account the attack the beast had sent his way as well. Luckily, Pyrrha was able to save the day, using her semblance to move his shield over to the side where the Ursas claw was coming from. The shield blocked the attack and Jaune swung at the neck of the beast, causing it to be decapitated.

"Uhhhh….what?" Ruby said, clearly confused about what Pyrrha had just done.

"How did you-" Weiss was about to add on before she was cut off by Pyrrha.

"Well….Ruby has her speed, Jarryd has his Hydrokinesis, and you have your glyphs, my semblance is polarity" Pyrrha stated with a light smile.

"Woah...you can control poles…" Ruby replied with a slight whisper, causing Weiss to hang her head low, and Jarryd to facepalm.

"No you dolt!" The heiress quietly yelled at her leader.

"It means she has control over magnetism…" Jarryd said, having to keep in his laughter at the cute cluelessness of the young girl.

"Magnets are cool too…" replied Ruby, still in awe, as Pyrrha & Jarryd started to leave.

"Where are you two going? We need to tell them what happened" Weiss asked the two, as they turned around to answer her question

"Or…" Jarryd had started, gesturing for Pyrrha to finish his sentence for him.

"We could just keep it our little secret" Pyrrha said with cheerfulness in her voice, as they all looked at Jaune, who had sheathed his sword and walked up to Cardin, the 4 students then left the scene, going to join back up with the others, leaving Cardin and Jaune alone….again. Jaune offered his hand to Cardin, who was still on the ground, he accepted the help and allowed himself to be pulled up by the team leader.

"Holy crap Jaune." was all Cardin managed to say.

"Don't...EVER... mess with my friends and team ever again! Got it?" Jaune yelled at Cardin before walking away.

 **Beacon Rooftop: Night**

Jaune had gone up to the roof, hoping that his message to Pyrrha went through.

"No Cardin tonight? I thought you two were 'best buds' " Pyrrha said from behind him. Jaune turned around and started speaking to his red-haired teammate

"Pyrrha...I'm sorry, I was a total jerk and a moron, you were only trying to be nice and...I had all this stupid macho stuff in my hea-"

"Jaune…" Pyrrha had cut him off "It's ok" she stated as they stared at each other, both with a smile on their face. "Your team misses their leader, you know, come on down, Ren made pancakes!" Pyrrha said walking to the entrance back into the building "No syrup though, you can thank Nora for that" she finished while laughing.

"Wait!" Jaune yelled after her, causing Pyrrha to turn around. "I know I definitely don't deserve it after everything, but would you still be willing to help me…become a better fighter!" Jaune finished while looking at the ground, then Pyrrha walked up to him with a smile, and pushed him down.

"Your stance is all wrong, your legs need to be wider and lower to the ground" Pyrrha said, pulling him off the ground. "Let's try that again" she finished with little knowledge that Jarryd had seen everything from inside the doorway back into the school, he then decided to walk back to his team's dorm. 'Mission...Accomplished' he thought in his mind in the tone of his leader's voice. He then blushed again at the thought of his leader 'Oh god, I **do** have a thing for her' with that thought Jarryd walked into his team's dorm, and went right to sleep.

 **2 months later (A/N, I wanted this to event to happen later in the school year to fit in with my plans for Jarryd)**

Team RWBY had arrived in downtown Vale, the future sight of the 40th annual Vytal Festival, Weiss had taken the lead, taking in everything she had seen.

"The Vytal Festival, this is absolutely wonderful" Weiss said with a big smile on her face.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss, It's kinda weirding me out." Ruby said to the White-cladded member of the team, when Jarryd added onto the comment.

"I admit, It is strange seeing you acting like this Weiss" He said, as Weiss looked back at the two with a scowl. "Annnnnd...she's back" Jarryd continued after seeing the look on the heiress's face.

"How could you not smile, a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world!" She then proceeded to list off the festival events "There will be dances, parades, a tournament, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this is simply breathtaking" Weiss finished. Yang sighed and said

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet you" Weiss retaliated.

"and remind me why we are spending our afternoon at the stupid docks" Yang continued to which her younger sister plugged her nose.

"It smells like fish…" She said in a nasally voice.

"Meh, you get used to it after a while…" Jarryd stated smiling, as the docks reminded him of home. The three girls looked toward the pirate with a sweatdrop. "What?" he asked expecting a response he never got.

"Anyways...I heard that the students of Vacuo will be arriving by ship today, and as a representative of Beacon, it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!" she said with a dignified manner as they kept walking. Blake then turned to her Ruby, Yang, and Jarryd and said.

"She wants to spy on them so she will have an upper hand in the tournament" She stated with a smile.

"You can't prove that!" Weiss exclaimed, trying to defend herself.

"What happened there?" Jarryd said as everyone turned to see what he was looking at, he had spotted a dust shop with police tape all over the building with 2 detectives standing outside the damaged shop. The team eventually approached the building to get a better look.

"What happened here?" the buccaneer asked the detective.

"Robbery, second dust shop hit this week." The first detective replied "place is turning into a jungle, they even left all the money!" Then the second detective spoke up.

"It just doesn't make any sense, who in the world need that much dust"

"I have no idea, you thinkin the White Fang." The first one asked

"I'm thinking we don't get paid enough" Replied detective number two. Weiss scoffed, causing her teammates to turn towards her.

"Hmph, the White Fang, what an awful bunch of degenerates" The heiress said, causing Blake to speak up.

"What's your problem?" She asked the girl in white.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane!" Weiss retaliated.

"The White Fang are not a bunch of psychopaths, they are a collection of misguided faunus" Blake said, crossing her arms, to which Jarryd jumped into the conversation.

"Yeah, weren't they originally a peaceful protest group" Jarryd said, Blake smiled at the pirate while Weiss just ignored the comment.

"Misguided?! They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet" Weiss replied defending her claim.

"Then they are **very** misguided." Blake said, also defending her previous statements "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a dust shop, in the middle of downtown Vale!"

"She has a point, besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago, maybe it was him." Ruby commented, to which Jarryd was shocked, whenever he had docked at a major city in the past, there were wanted posters of Roman Torchwick everywhere! Jarryd decided to ask her about it later.

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of Faunus who only know how to lie, cheat and steal" Weiss retorted, bringing them back to the original subject.

"Not necessarily true" Yang commented, and would have continued until they heard a random cry.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!" The team heard an unknown person yell. They all looked around to see a couple of men chasing after a boy with blonde hair, a white shirt, blue jeans and a monkey tail on a boat.

"Thanks for the ride guys!" The Faunus yelled to the two men chasing him before jumping onto the docks.

"You no-good stowaway!" One of his pursuers yelled at the monkey faunus, who proceeded to hang upside down by his tail, and started peeling a banana.

"Hey, a no-good stowaway would have been caught, I'm a great stowaway! He shouted with pride as the 2 detectives from earlier walked up to him.

"Get down this insta-" Number 1 had started to say when he was hit in the face with a banana peel, the boy laughed and quickly swung himself up and leaped over to the end of the docks and ran off. They boy eventually ran past the team, quickly looking and giving Blake a quick wink before running off. Yang eventually spoke up.

"You wanted to see the competition Weiss, and there it goes." She said as they all turned the way the faunus had run off.

"Quick! we have to observe him!" Yelled white as she bursted down the street to find the Monkey-tailed faunus. The 4 others had just sweatdropped when Weiss had said 'observe', they all just looked at each other as Jarryd just shrugged his shoulders before they all took off to follow their teammate. The team had just gained enough ground as to be just behind the pursuing detectives when they had ran around the corner, Weiss did the same, but ran into a girl with short orange hair. Weiss looked up to see that the guilty party lept onto a nearby building. "No! They got away!" She yelled, knowing she had missed a chance to get an advantage.

"Uhh...Weiss…" Yang had said, pointing to the ground below the heiress, revealing the orange haired girl on the ground, looking up at them. Weiss let out a surprised yelp before backing up to her teammates as the girl layed on the ground.

"Salutations!" The girl yelled with as much enthusiasm as their team leader….

"Um…. hey…" Jarryd replied to the girl, who he had just noticed her clothing. She was wearing a faded-pink bow, and a gray dress with neon green lines running up it,

"Are you ok?" Yang asked with a nervous look, thinking that the girl was completely nuts for her reply after being run into.

"I'm wonderful!" the orange haired girl answered, still on the ground "Thank you for asking." she finished in an almost monotone voice. The team looked at each other with confused looks.

"Do you...you know...wanna get up?" Jarryd said, it being his turn to question the girls sanity. The girl went into thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes!" she yelled before launching herself to her feet. The group stepped back at the sudden movement. "My name is Penny, it is a pleasure to meet you!"

"Hi Penny...I'm Ruby" the leader of the team said causing the rest to follow

"I'm Weiss"

"Blake"

"It's Jarryd"

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang said instead of her name, causing the pirate to elbow her in the side. "Oh, I'm Yang"

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Penny repeated as she looked the team over.

"You….already said that" Jarryd replied, with a look of confusion. Realization hit the young girl.

"So I did!" She suddenly yelled, causing the team to jump back more.

"Well...sorry for running into you." Weiss apologized quickly, wanting to get as far away from the girl as possible.

"Take care friend" Ruby replied in a, well, friendly way. Jarryd then had a funny feeling in his stomach.

'I have a feeling that statement is gonna bite us in the ass in a little bit' Jarryd thought as the team began to walk away.

"She was….weird" Yang said in the silence, trying to find the right word for describing Penny. Weiss meanwhile was still looking around to see if she could find the person they were chasing beforehand.

"Where did that faunus riff-raff run off to!" She said, getting another scowl from Blake. That was when they saw Penny in front of them.

"What did you call me?" She asked as the team backed away, Yang tried to defend herself, thinking she offended the girl.

"Woah, sorry, I didn't think you heard me!"

"Not you..." Penny replied as she walked towards Ruby. "You"

'and it looks like I was right' Jarryd had thought again as Ruby looked shocked.

"Me!" The young one yelled, trying to figure out what she did wrong. "I don't know...w-what I-" Ruby tried to continue as she was cut off.

"You called me 'Friend', am I really your friend?" Penny asked as the scythe wielder tried to think of an answer, she looked to her teammates for guidance, the girls shaking their heads no and waving their arms, while Jarryd put his hand near his neck and waved it back and forth, making it look like he was trying to decapitate himself.

"Yeah sure…" Ruby replied as her entire team dropped to the ground, clearly annoyed that the leader didn't get what they were trying to say.

"Sen-sational!" Penny yelled "We can paint our nails, try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like him!" she finished as she pointed at Jarryd, causing Ruby to blush, and Jarryd to jump backwards, not knowing whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.

"Is this what it was like when you met me?" Ruby had quietly asked Weiss, blush slightly on her face from the Jarryd comment.

"No...she seems **far** more coordinated" Weiss answered, earning a pouty face from her leader.

"So...what're you doing in Vale?" Yang asked Penny, trying to break the ice.

"I'm gonna fight in the tournament." She replied, earning a surprised look from Weiss.

"You're gonna fight in the tournament.?" White replied, causing the girl to give Weiss a salute.

"I'm combat-ready." Penny said proudly, making Jarryd chuckle.

"I apologize, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl in a dress" Blake said with a laugh, Weiss only looked angrier.

"It's a combat skirt" Ruby then rushed to Weiss's defense, because she wore the same thing.

"Yeah!" Ruby said to her teammate, causing Weiss to low-five her, an action Jarryd thought was impossible.

"I think I just felt a rip in the space-time continuum" He whispered to Yang, making her nearly burst out laughing.

"Wait a minute…" The heiress started when realization hit her. "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed...rapscallion!?" Jarryd and Blake scowled at the word, Blake because Weiss was disrespecting the faunus, and Jarryd because that word was something he had been called many times before, because of his association with The Red Band.

"The who?" Penny replied, clearly confused as to who Weiss was talking about.

"The filthy faunus from the boat" The Schnee heiress yelled, causing Blake to speak up.

"Why do you keep saying that huh, stop calling him a rapscallion, stop calling him a degenerate, he is a person!" Blake yelled, having enough with Weiss's discrimination.

"Oh, I'm sorry, would you also like to to stop calling the trash can as a trash can, or me referring to this lamp post as a lamp post!" Weiss said, making literally no sense to the rest of the team.

"Stop It!"

"What he clearly broke the law, give him time, and he will probably join up with those other faunus and the White Fang" That was when Blake lost it.

"You...Ignorant little brat!" Black had yelled as Weiss jumped back at the rage her teammate showed before walking off.

"How dare you talk to me like that, I am your teammate" the heiress accused as Jarryd said something under his breath.

'Then act like it!' The buccaneer had thought, as he noticed Blake's bow twitch a bit.

"You are a judgemental little girl" the argument continued, going back and forth.

"I think we should probably go" Yang said to the remaining two.

"Agreed, I can't stand another minute of this…" Jarryd stated, scowling.

"Where are we going?" Penny asked from behind Ruby.

"-makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be" They heard Blake say.

"So you admit it, the White Fang is just a group of terrorists!" Weiss replied proudly, thinking she had won the dispute.

"That is not what I meant and you know it!" Blake yelled as they suddenly back at the dorm room.

"I don't see why this is causing such a problem"

"That is the problem"

"You realize, you are defending an organization that hates humanity don't you." Weiss started, causing Ruby and Yang to look in worry, while Jarryd had a long-standing scowl on his face. "the White Fang are pure evil."

"There is no such thing as pure evil, why do you think they hate humanity, people like Cardin, like YOU that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures." Blake retorted.

"People like me!" Weiss replied, very offended.

"You're discriminatory!"

"I am a victim! you want to know why I despise the White Fang" The Heiress asked in a manner that reminded Jarryd of someone who kept saying the definition of some word. "Why I don't trust the faunus, it's because they have been at war with my family for years, and I mean actual bloodshed" She continued as the ambiance of the room had been somber. "My Grandfather's company, a target on its back for as long as I can remember, and ever since, I've watched friends disappear, board members executed, an entire train car full of dust...stolen...and everyday, my father came home furious, which gave me a very difficult childhood.

"Weiss...I-" Ruby had tried to get in, putting a hand on her shoulder, but Weiss had turned away from the contact.

"No! You want to know why I despise the White Fang...because they are a bunch of liars, thieves and Murderers!" Blake, seeing her chance to retaliate, took it.

"Well maybe _we_ were just tired of being pushed around!" Blake yelled as every eye had widened at the words. Noticing her mistake, Blake ran out of the room, accidentally revealing her biggest secret.

"Blake wait!" Ruby yelled, attempting to run after her, but was stopped by Jarryds arm, causing the leader to look at the pirate with a worried look.

"I'll talk to her...I'll probably have the best luck." Ruby then thought for a moment, but then backed up, allowing Jarryd to go through the doorway.

"I hope you're right…" Ruby smiled at Jarryd before he jogged down the hall to catch up with his black-haired teammate. Eventually, he found her without her bow, revealing a pair of cat ears, but who she was with surprised him...the monkey faunus from the docks. He quickly hid behind a nearby tree, trying to listen in on their conversation, but a certain yell caught him off guard.

"Jarryd...I know you're there" Blake had yelled towards the tree, the swashbuckler came out of hiding, seeing the blank look on Blakes face, and the surprised face on the other faunus.

"Guess i'm not as good at stealth as I thought, Blake, what happened up there was not your fault...:" He said, trying to find the right words to say.

"Thanks Jarryd...but...I kinda half to go" Blake turned away from Jarryd as she and the other faunus.

"Wait! can I at least get the name of the guy next to you before you go...so I at least have something to work with?" Jarryd asked before the blonde faunus looked at the buccaneer and gave him a toothy smile.

"It's Sun...Sun Wukong" He said before he and Blake walked off again, making Jarryd go up to the roof to reflect on todays events.

 **Beacon rooftop**

Jarryd had been lost in thought, thinking that todays events were like one of his own….but it had a different ending.

 _Flashback_

 _The Navy had attacked once again, they had nearly overpowered the ships and boarded them, causing the pirates to defend themselves. Jarryd had been at the center of it all, fighting off wave after wave of Naval soldiers, until finally, he heard a shot, directed towards him. The pirate had turned around not to see that he himself had been shot, but someone had jumped in front of him to save his skin. Jarryd was surprised to see the person he had argued with about the Navy, his fellow crew mate, Amber. Amber had been picked up about 2 weeks ago from a sinking naval ship, she had formerly been a soldier when The Red Band decided to bring her aboard as a crew member. Amber and Jarryd always argued on the subject of the navy, Jarryd believing they were corrupt scumbags, while Amber believed that they were the heroes of the water. The fact that Amber saved Jarryd was a shock, but what happened next was even more surprising, Amber had collapsed over, dead, risking her life for her crew fellow member._

 **Present Time**

Jarryd had seen those events re-enacted today between his teammates, Jarryd decided he had enough of the topic, walked back into the dorm room, changed into his lone set of pajamas, and fell asleep.

 **ANNNND DONE!**

 **My god did that take forever, the next chapter will be probably started on saturday, which we will get to see the pirate group again. that all i have to say...Until next time**


	5. Chapter 5

**WAZZZ UPPP!**

 **So here's the lowdown of what I plan to get done in this chapter.**

 **Finish the whole White Fang part.**

 **2\. have a part that builds on Jarryds pirate origins more.**

 **ALSO I FORGOT TO DO THIS WITH THE OTHER CHAPTERS**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of the characters except Jarryd and any other OC's**

 **LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

 **3 days later…**

Team RWBY minus the B, had been walking down the streets of downtown Vale searching for the missing member of their team, shouting her name repeatedly.

"She's been missing all weekend...I hope she's ok." Ruby said to nobody in particular, Yang and Jarryd nodded. Jarryd still had a small scowl on his face, which did not go unnoticed by the group, but nobody wanted to speak up.

"Blake is a big girl, I'm sure she can handle herself" Replied Weiss, the girl who had started the whole argument.

"Weiss, she's our teammate…" Yang had started, trying to put some sense into the heiresses head.

"Is she...we all heard what she said" Weiss had said back to the blonde, slightly raising her voice.

"Ok...maybe she isn't, but she's missing and we need to find her!" Yang finished, earning a nod from Ruby and Jarryd.

"A member of the White Fang, right underneath our noses!" Weiss went on, ignoring the brawlers comment.

"Hey, we don't know that, she said 'we', which could also mean that she is only a faunus, there are faunus not in the White Fang, you know that Weiss?" Jarryd had retorted, scowl still on his face. 'Blake...wherever you are...I also hope you are ok.' the buccaneer said in thought.

 **With Blake and Sun**

The two faunus had stopped at a cafe in Vale, Sun wanted to know more about her, because she had been silent the last couple of days. Blake drank the tea she had ordered, until she started speaking.

"So...you wish to know more about me….?" Blake had stated, looking at Sun

"Finally she speaks! for only 3 days you have given me nothing but small talk and weird looks" Sun yelled, raising his arms in victory, Blake only scowled in response. "Yeah, like that"

"Sun, are you familiar with the White Fang…?" Blake asked, awaiting a response.

"Of course I do, so does every other faunus on the planet, the stupid 'Holier-than-thou' creeps that use force to get whatever they want...why do you ask?" Sun answered, thinking she had asked an obvious question.

"I was once a member of the White Fang…" was the only response Sun got, causing him to nearly spit out his tea.

"Wait! WHAT!, you were a member of the White Fang!" He yelled in surprise.

"That's right...I was a member for most of my life actually…" Blake had started "you could almost say that I was born into it. Back then, things were different, in the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between human and faunus...of course... Despite the promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate...humanity still thought of us as lesser beings, so the White Fang rose up, and I was there, I was at the front of every rally...every protest. I took part in every boycott, and I had thought we were making a difference, but I was just a youthful optimist." Blake had continued, Sun enveloped in the story "Then, 5 years ago our leader stepped down and a new one took his place, bringing in a new way of thinking. Suddenly, our peaceful protests turned into organized attacks...doing many terrible things, but the worst part was...it was working, we were being treated as equals, but not out of respect...out of fear…" Blake finished the story, leaving the monkey-faunus with his jaw on the ground. "So...I left, I decided I no longer wanted to use my abilities to aid in their violence...and instead, I dedicated my life to becoming a huntress. So...here I am, a criminal hiding in plain sight, with the help of a little black bow…" She said, forcing her bow to twitch. Sun took a second to respond.

"So...have you told any of your friends this…?" He asked in a sympathetic way, only being met with no reply.

 **Back with Team RWBY -Blake**

"BLAAAAKEEE!" Ruby had called out, hoping to hear her teammate reply, Yang and Jarryd did the same. Ruby noticed Weiss wasn't even trying. "Weiss, you're not helping."

"Oh...you know what might be a little help...the police!" Schnee yelled at the 3, hoping to get her point across, which instead made all of them scowl. "It was just an idea!"

"Yeah...a terrible one at that" The pirate responded, making Ruby nod, and Yang started to speak.

"I think we should hear Blake's side of the story first, Weiss"

" **I** think that you will all realize that I was right" The girl in white said with a dignified expression.

"And I think Weiss's hair looks great today!" added a monotone voice from behind the 4, causing them all to jump in surprise and look to see that Penny, the girl from the night before, had said the words.

"Penny! one thing you don't do is scare people who have weapons!" Jarryd softly yelled, as to not draw too much attention on the streets.

"Hey guys! what are you up to?!" The orange haired girl asked the team.

"Looking for our friend Blake…" Yang answered.

"Ohhhhh, you mean the faunus girl…"

"Wait...how did you know?" Ruby said, it being her turn to ask questions.

"Uh...the cat ears!" Penny said in a captain obvious tone.

"What cat ears? she wears a bow…" Realization had hit the group like a freight train, except Jarryd, who had seen the ears 3 nights ago.

"That would explain the twitching" He said.

"So...where is she?" Penny wondered, allowing Ruby to answer.

"We don't know, she has been missing since friday."

"That's terrible! Well don't you worry Ruby my friend, I won't rest until your friend is found!" Penny replied, running up to Ruby.

"That's really nice of you Penny but...we're okay really, right guys" Ruby looked to her team, but only Jarryd was their, it seemed even he didn't notice his other teammates were gone. A tumbleweed rolled by.

"Ain't that cliche?" The swashbuckler said.

 **With Blake and Sun**

After finishing their tea, the two faunus had decided to walk down the street, deciding their next move.

"So….what's the plan"" Sun asked with his hands behind his head.

"I still don't believe that the White Fang is behind these robberies, they have never needed that much dust before" Blake responded, defending her former organization.

"But...what if they did, I mean the only way to prove they didn't do it is to go to the place where they would most likely go to if they were to do it...and not find them there... right." Sun said pacing back and forth, barely keeping up with his own words.

"The only thing is, I have no idea where that would be…" Blake replied.

"Well...while I was on the ship I heard some guys talking about unloading a huge shipment of dust coming from Atlas"

"How huge?" Blake asked the monkey tailed man.

"HUGE...big Schnee company freighter." Blake winced at the name Schnee, reminding her of her teammate.

"You're sure?" Blake asked.

 **With Yang and Weiss.**

The two girls had just exited a shop, hoping they could get some info on their faunus friend.

"Thanks anyways…" Yang yelled inside the shop. "This is hopeless, you really don't care if we find her, do you Weiss" she finished, looking at the heiress.

"Don't be dumb, of course I do...I'm just afraid of what she'll say when we find her." Weiss replied, pacing back and forth "the innocent never run Yang!" she stated before walking off.

 **With Ruby, Penny and Jarryd**

"So...Blake is your friend?" Penny asked the two Beacon students.

"Yes Penny, I thought that was obvious" Jarryd replied to the dumb question.

"But...you're mad at her?"

"Yeah, well...Jarryd, Yang and I aren't, Weiss **is** " Ruby answered in a somber tone

"Is she friends with Blake?" Penny kept asking question after question, which slightly annoyed the pirate.

"It's a little of both" Jarryd said with a more cheerful tone then Ruby's

"Why?" the monotoned voice girl asked yet another question.

"Well...you see, Blake might not be who we thought she was" Ruby replied, now looking at the ground, causing a frown to come to Jarryds face, hating that his usually energetic leader, who he had a crush on, was down in the dumps.

"Is...she a man!" Penny replied, shocking Ruby and making Jarryd facepalm.

"No, Penny… we...we don't know what she is…" Jarryd started, trying to get the girl to understand "she hasn't exactly talked to us before she decided to run off."

"I don't have a lot of friends, but if I did, I would want them to talk to me about things." Penny said, making Ruby look down again.

"Me too" Ruby said as she started to walk off, Penny followed after her, while Jarryd just stood there with a small frown. He ran back to his leader, and proceeded to look for Blake...and the teammates who left them.

 **At the Docks -Blake and Sun**

Blake had been watching the ports for about an hour now by herself, waiting for something to happen, the only thing on the scene was a Schnee company freighter, just like Sun had said.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked as he walked up to where Blake was hiding.

"Not really, they took all of the crates off the boat...now they're just sitting there." The black-clad faunus answered, Sun then pulled out an apple.

"Here, I stole you some food" He said, trying to hand it to Blake.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought" She replied with a blank expression.

"Hey! weren't you in a cult or something!?" He softly yelled, only to be answered by a stern look. "Too soon?" That was when they heard a noise coming from an aircraft above them. The airship began to lower itself onto the docks when the door opened, letting a bunch of White Fang soldiers out. Blake's eyes widened at the scene.

"Oh no…" She said, her fear becoming a reality.

"Is that them?" Sun then asked.

"Yes, that's them." Blake answered in a monotone voice. A lone soldier then yelled something to the others, him holding a lone rifle in his hand.

"Grab the tow cables!" He said, telling them to get to work. Sun saw the look on Blake's face.

"You really didn't think they were behind it, did you?" He softly asked Blake, as to not inform the cult of their location

"No...I think deep down I knew, I just didn't want to be right…" Blake said with closed eyes, until a new voice came from the airship.

"Hey! What's the holdup?" A man with orange hair, a white coat, bowler hat and cane in his hand yelled to the soldiers. Blake immediately identified him as Roman Torchwick. "We aren't the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so….why don't you animals try to pick up the pace!" the soldiers then decided to do as the cane-holding man said, getting to work.

"This isn't right! The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not him…" Blake said, getting up from her original position, pulled out Gambol Shroud, and jumped down to the docks.

"Hey wait!" Sun yelled after her, but it fell on deaf cat ears. Blake landed and quickly ran behind a crate, still listening to the orders Torchwick was giving.

"You idiot! This isn't a leash-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as Blake ran up behind him and put her sword up to Roman's neck. He let out a surprised yelp, as the soldiers surrounded her and pointed their rifles & swords at her.

"Nobody move!" She yelled, causing them all to stop.

"Woah, take it easy there lady!" Torchwick calmly said, sword still at his throat. Blake then took off her bow, revealing her cat ears, she then tried to persuade the soldiers.

"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this….scum!" She yelled, trying to find the right word, some of the men lowered their weapons. Torchwick only started laughing.

"Hehe, kid, don't you get the memo..." Blake wondered what he meant. "The White Fang and I are in on a joint business venture."

"Tell me what this 'Venture' is before I end this little operation!" She had threatened the crime lord, only to be met with whirring from another airship above.

"I wouldn't call it a little operation" Torchwick replied with a smirk as airships then surrounded the group. Torchwick then pointed his cane-rocket launcher towards the ground, and fired.

 **With Ruby, Penny and Jarryd**

The three had heard a massive explosion, they turned to see that smoke was coming from the docks.

"That...can't be good" Jarryd stated the obvious before they started to run in the direction of the smoke.

 **Back with Blake (That sounds like a talk show XD)**

Blake had still been recovering from the first explosion, when Torchwick fired another shot in her direction. She quickly rolled out of the way, allowing the dust-rocket to hit a crate, Torchwick kept on firing as Blake flipped and turned to dodge, before running behind another crate.

"Here kitty, kitt-" Torchwick was about to finish his threat when a banana peel hit his hat, making him stop. He threw the peel to the side and looked up to see that Sun was jumping down towards him, and ended up kicking Torchwick in the face.

"Leave...her..alone!" Sun threateningly yelled, as more White Fang soldiers jumped out of the hoovering aircrafts, surrounding Sun.

"Not the brightest banana in the bunch, are ya kid?" Torchwick mocked as Sun only had a scowl on his face. The soldiers then rushed him, swords and rifles at the ready, Sun immediately started dodging and punching all of them straight in the face, when Nunchucks that were also shotguns appeared into his hand. He quickly started disposing of the goons, as Torchwick fired a dust-rocket towards Sun, which was blocked by Blake, who charged at Roman, who had tried to block all the swings that were coming his way, he eventually knocked Blake down, but then Sun took over, taking more swings at Torchwick, which were unfortunately blocked as shells from boths weapons were flying. Blake then got back up and slashed at Torchwick, catching him off guard and sending the criminal flying. When he got back up, Torchwick noticed a hanging crate above the two and shot at the cable holding it up, causing it to nearly fall on the faunuses, but they rolled out of the way. Sun was then met with the barrel of Roman's cane to the back of his head. That was when a loud bang was heard and a bullet hole appeared at the bottom of Torchwick's foot, causing all three of them to look up to see Jarryd with his revolver pointed at the man, and Ruby at his side with Crescent Rose in scythe form. "Oh, hello Red! I see you've brought your boyfriend along, isn't it past your bedtimes?!" He yelled up to the two, who had slightly blushed when he said 'boyfriend'

"Ruby, Jarryd, are these people truly your friends?" Penny asked from behind them.

"Penny! Get back!" Ruby yelled back to her. Roman saw his chance and took a shot at the leader, but Jarryd saw his attempt and decided to pull what Amber had done for him. Jarryd jumped in front of the dust-rocket, taking the hit full-force, Ruby had just turned around to see Jarryd, fly off the building into the water below.

"JARRYD!" Ruby yelled after her teammate, as she shifted her scythe into sniper form, and aimed at Torchwick, about to avenge her fallen friend and crush. That was when a geyser of water nearly hit Torchwick as he dodged just in time. Everyone had looked to see Jarryd on the dock, with his clothes and hair all wet, with his hand out, signaling he had sent the water towards him.

"Really Torchwick, I expected more from a wanted criminal!" Jarryd began, stepping towards Torchwick at a slow pace, unsheathing Crimson Fury. "Now then, this is what you get for hurting my friend, and trying to shoot the other!" He yelled as he rushed Torchwick sword in hand, in which the crimelord set up his cane to block the swipe, just like the other weapons, but Crimson Fury was not like other weapons. Jarryd slashed upwards, nearly knocking the cane out of Roman's hand, which left an opening for Jarryd to punch the white-coated man, causing him to fly a few yard away. Roman then took aim at the buccaneer and fired, Jarryd rolled out of the way, but the explosion from the rocket brought fire to his black trenchcoat, realizing he couldn't douse the flames without drenching himself or getting distracting, he simply unclipped his sheath, holster and water bomb stache, took the coat off and threw it to the side, causing it to burn away. Jarryd, now only in his dark red t-shirt, kept on fighting, he rushed towards Torchwick, who fired 3 more rockets. the swashbuckler then unholstered his revolver and shot the dust-rockets, causing them to explode, Jarryd continued his assault as his blade locked in combat with Roman's cane, as they exchanged a few words.

"Compared to the people I've fought against with The Red Band, this is nothing!" Jarryd exclaimed, mocking Torchwick, whose eyes widened at the name.

"The Red Band, My my kiddo, If you're good enough to be with some of the baddest pirates out there, I think I might have underestimated you" He smirked "But you are still just a child!" Roman yelled before unlocking cane and blade and smacking Jarryd in the stomach with the but end of the cane, he then fired once more at the swordsman's feet, causing him to flip backwards to a far enough distance for him to escape in his aircraft. "Kids these days are just getting weirder and weirder" Roman whispered to himself before flying away. Jarryd was going to attempt to bring it down, but was interrupted when 4 other ships started shooting at Jarryd. He dodged every bullet that came his way and shot the engines of the ships, causing them to crash into the ocean below, he looked to see that Roman Torchwick had gotten away.

"Damn it! I almost had him!" Jarryd yelled and turned around to see the police had arrived, with Blake, Sun, Penny and Ruby sitting on boxes. Jarryd started to walk towards them.

"That guy is one tough bastard…" He had started, until Ruby started crushing him with a bear hug.

"Jarryd! Thank Monty you're ok, don't **ever** do something that stupid again!" the team leader scorned with small tears in her eyes.

"Ruby, I wasn't going to allow you to get shot, and I would do that again if I had to." Jarryd said with a smile as he comforted the young girl.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, we have something to discuss…" A voice said as they turned around to see Yang and Weiss, Yang was looking at Jarryd with her eye twitching. Ruby then walked up to Weiss and tried to explain the whole situation to her, but she kept walking. Blake stood up, facing Weiss. They had stared each other down for about 10 seconds before Blake spoke up.

"Weiss, I want you to know that I am no longer associated with the White Fang...back when I wa-"

"A-bup-bup, do you have any idea how long we've been looking for you" Weiss interrupted. "12 hours, that means I had 12 hours to think about this, and i've decided…" everyone listened closely "I don't care!"

"You don't care?" Blake asked, seriously confused.

"You said you aren't one of them anymore, right?"

"Well I haven't been since I was younge-"

"A-bup-bup, don't want to hear it, all I want to know is that the next time something this big comes up, you come to your teammates, and not….someone else" Weiss finished, looking at Sun. Blake then looked to the left to see Ruby nodding her head Yang smiling, and Jarryd with a smirk. She had to wipe away a tear from her face as she nodded.

"Of course…"

"YA! Team RWBY is back together" Ruby yelled as the team plus Sun huddled close, Weiss then pointed to him, and stated.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about you" Sun gave off a nervous smile as Yang then turned to Jarryd.

"Hey Jarryd, where's your trenchcoat?" She asked the pirate, seeing him without the clothing article that he took everywhere.

"Destroyed…" He answered, then looked around. "A better question is...where did Penny go?" At this, the entire team noticed that Penny was nowhere to be found, they just shrugged it off. What they didn't know was that Penny was inside a limo, watching the group, when a voice called out to her.

"You should know better than to run around, in a big city…" The voice then waited for a reply.

"I know, sir." Penny said with her head down, before they drove off.

"Penny, your time will come…"

 **Beacon rooftop.**

Jarryd had gone up to the roof to reflect on his thoughts, as he couldn't fall asleep. He then heard a voice behind him.

"Couldn't sleep either huh?" He turned his head around to see Ruby in her pajamas, the swashbuckler only smiled and nodded. "What're you doing up here?" She asked Jarryd.

"Thinking about today, why are you up here?" The brunette threw the same question her way.

"Looking for you, I have something to talk to you about." Ruby answered as she walked up beside him.

"What is it?" He asked again, very curious to see what his leader had to say.

"I just wanted to say thank you...for taking that shot for me…" She replied in a soft voice, Jarryd then turned his head back to the open air in front of him, hoping to hide the blush he had.

"It's no big deal, I know you would have done the same for me." Jarryd said, smiling, but what came next, he was not prepared for. Ruby then went up on her toes and kissed the pirate right on the cheek, then backed away. Now they both were as red as a tomato.

"Come on, let's get back to sleep." Ruby said before walking back to the dorm room. It took a second for him to follow, but eventually did, Ruby then climbed up into her bed.

"Night Jarryd…" She softly told the buccaneer.

"Night Ruby…" Jarryd replied before drifting off to sleep.

 **The next morning**

Jarryd was the first one up that morning, he quickly took a shower and got dressed into his school uniform, when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he saw none other than Professor Ozpin there with a letter in hand.

"Professor, what are you doing here?" Jarryd asked the old man.

"I came by to tell you that you have the next 3 days off, and the entire team too if they agree to what's in this letter...:" Was the only thing Ozpin said before handing the envelope to Jarryd and walking off.

"Well what's in it?" Jarryd heard a voice from behind him, he turned around to see the 4 girls were awake and heard everything.

"I don't know...but we're about to find out." The pirate replied before opening the letter to see what exactly Ozpin said it was, a letter.

"Well, read it out loud!" Yang asked of him, to which he opened the letter, cleared his throat, and began reading.

" _Dear Jarryd._

 _The crew is gonna be docked in Vale for a while, because we heard you and your team were going to fight in the tournament during the Vytal Festival. I was hoping that you and your team could stop by for the next 2 days, just to catch up, we all really miss you. We will be at the Vale docks._

 _Hope you come._

 _Captain John Starks (Aka Dad)_

Everyone's eyes widened at the news, for the girls, it was a chance to see what life at sea was like, for Jarryd, it was a visit back home.

"Well I know i'm going, what about you 4?" Jarryd asked his team.

"Are you kidding, of course i'm going!" Replied Ruby, excited with her chance to meet The Red Band.

"Heck Yeah!" Was the only response Yang had.

"Sure, why not…" Blake answered.

"If I must…" Weiss said with a groan.

"Well great, let's get packed and head for the docks." Jarryd went on with a smile, he caught a glance at Ruby, and they both blushed remembering the events of the night before. Then, they got to packing.

 **Vale Docks**

The Docks were a way to common site to see for the team, seeing as they were here yesterday. When they arrived at the docks, Jarryd, who now was wearing a black, unbuttoned dress shirt, looked around to see if there was anyone he knew, he did see The Red Band ship, The Crimson Raider, with different color flags so they wouldn't get attacked. That was when he turned around to see 2 familiar faces, he started walking towards them. The girls had a confused look, wondering what he was doing.

"I knew you would come" Jarryd told the 1st man, who had graying black hair. then looked to the second and pointed "I did **not** expect you to be here." the second man, who had blonde hair, sheepishly put his hand behind his head.

"Um...Jarryd…who are they?" Ruby asked the pirate, who just turned around and smiled.

"Girls, this is my father, Captain John Starks, and Private Jack Daw, my best friend." Jarryd replied with a smile.

"WHAT!" The girls yelped, the graying man, now identified as the captain then looked to the group.

"Who are they Jarryd?" John asked his son, to which Jarryd turned around.

"Guys, this is my team, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang" The girls just waved to the two other pirates. That was when Jack finally spoke.

"4 girls man, you sure do work fast" Jack said with a smirk, to which Jarryd smacked him in the head.

"Even after 3 months, you're still a moron huh Jack?" Jarryd said to his best friend.

"Well if introductions are out of the way, then why don't you come aboard!" Captain John laughed, gesturing to The Crimson Raider, which was a huge ship, with multiple decks. The group came aboard as they were lead to their rooms. Jarryd had a big room when he was on the ship, so they had fit 4 more beds in the room. They dropped off their luggage and were lead to the bar room that was on the ship. When the door was opened, the group saw the rest of the crew.

"Holy Cow, there's a ton of people in here!" Ruby gasped at the sheer amount of pirates there were, men,women,human and faunus alike. That was when John jumped in front of Jarryd, hiding him when he whistled to get the attention of the crew. Every single head turned to them.

"Boys, Girls, we have someone to welcome back!" With that, the captain stepped to the side, revealing Jarryd to the crew. A thunderous roar came from everybody in the room, welcoming the fellow member back. Members of the crew ran up to see Jarryd once again, though he was not very good friends with any of the crew except Jack, who smiled at the scene with the captain.

 **1 hour later**

"Hoist the anchor!" The captain yelled to the crew, who did as told, and raised the anchor so the Crimson Raider could set out to sea "Jarryd! man the wheel would ya!"

"Aye, Aye Sir!" His adoptive son yelled back to the captain as he took control of the ship. The girls of Team RWBY were looking out into the open sea, when a voice was heard behind them.

"It's really great that you're there for him…" The group turned around to see Jack, who went to the side of the group "Jarryd needed other friends in his life…"

"What? Then why did everyone act so friendly when they saw him back at the bar?" Ruby asked Jarryd's best friend.

"Because, Jarryd is like family to everyone here, he thinks the same way about everyone else."

"Wait, so what did you mean by 'other friends in life'?" Weiss then asked.

"Well, on the ship Jarryd really only talks to me and his dad...you see, when we were younger...Jarryd and I really bonded over one similarity between us...we were both orphans" Jack said looking down at the ground "He never talked to anybody because no one could relate to what he talked about, I was the only one that did...we have grown very close over the years, we were inseparable from each other." he then turned to the team "Though, it seems like when he met you 4, you welcomed him in with hospitality only his father and I have ever shown him…" The group then looked up at Jarryd, who was steering with a smile on his face. "That smile he has now, that would only appear about 5 times a year, the fact that you agreed to be here probably brought that on." The girls then turned to Jack and smiled.

"Thanks for telling us this Jack" Blake said to the boy before he smiled and started walking away.

"No problem...:"

 **5 hours later**

After sailing around the area, the pirates decided to dock for the night, they decided to spend the time singing different shanties before hitting the hay.

" _That's what we do with a drunken sailor, that's what we do with a drunken sailor, that's what we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning"_

Every single crew member looked like they were having the time of their lives. The supposed 'malicious' group of pirates seemed like a lovable band of misfits to Team RWBY, they then looked to Jarryd, who was laughing with Jack and his father at the crew's drunken antics.

"What the actual hell is Garrett doing?" Jarryd said, almost in tears due to laughter.

"I-I don't know!" Jack yelled, almost out of breath. Jarryd then looked to see his team staring, he then wiped a tear from his face.

"So...what do you girls think?" He asked still laughing.

"You guys sure know how to party!" Yang pretty much yelled over all the noise.

"Yeah, give 'em an hour, they're all gonna pass out" the one buccaneer out of many said to his team. Sure enough, he was right...an hour later, everyone was either in their bed, or on the decked, wasted from all the alcohol, that was when the Team decided to go to sleep.

 **Next day -Noon**

The Crimson Raider was at sea yet again, Jarryd was doing his rounds, checking through the spyglass to see if there were any incoming enemy ships. He then looked up to see his father teaching his team how to steer the ship, and Jack was doing an ammunition check, Jarryd smiled, knowing that he could share his daily life with other people, other friends. Jarryd was on his last position check, he looked through the spyglass and saw nothing, he then turned to the right and saw it… A Navy flag on a brig, heading in their direction. Jarryd then yelled to his crew and teammates.

"All hands ready, Navy brig heading towards us, due north!" The entire ship gasped as the 4 girls ran down to him.

"What does that mean!?" Ruby then asked, worried.

"It means we are getting attacked!" Jarryd yelled, manning a cannon "Get behind cover, when someone yells 'Brace!' you duck and cover." The team nodded, then ran to get to a safe spot.

"Ready men!" The captain yelled, everyone nodded, aiming at the enemy, who was only about 100 yards away. "Fire!" Then all hell broke loose. 10 cannonballs went sailing through the air, about 4 hit their target. "Good hits!" That was when the Navy ship charged.

"Brace!" Jarryd yelled, noticing what the enemy was trying to do. Everyone ducked when the brig ran into the side of The Crimson Raider, scraping the side of the vessel.

"Damn!" Was the only thing Jack yelled at the time.

"Cannons are reloaded sir!"

"Ready! Fire!" John repeated again, making the crew launch 10 more cannonballs at the Navy, who fired right back, 4 balls collided in the air, while the others all made it. The Crimson Raider suffered a bit of damage, while the enemy's ship had a hole ripped in their sail, causing them to slow down.

"They've stopped moving, Quick, Reload!" Jarryd yelled at the crew as the team watched the fight from behind cover. Another round of cannonballs hit the enemy ship, this time, hitting a barrel of gunpowder, causing the ship to burst into flames.

"Get ready to board!" Jarryd's adoptive father yelled to the crew manning the cannons. Everyone got into position as Jarryd lined up next to Jack.

"Just like old times huh?!" Jack yelled to Jarryd, who only nodded in response. Then, when the Crimson Raider got close, the boarding crew jumped down onto the ship swords drawn and started fighting the remaining members of the Navy crew. Jarryd and Jack were at the center of it all, back to back, striking down enemies that even dared to try and get close to them, soon the fight was over, every foe was stricken down by the pirates. Jack and Jarryd were pacing along the ship when the unthinkable happened, one Navy soldier wasn't dead, he got up drew his sword and ran towards Jack. Jarryd saw this, but he saw it too late, the sword was shoved into Jack's back, coming out the other side. The sword was then pulled out by the soldier, Jack fell to the ground as his attacker was shot in the head by Jarryd, who yelled to the crew still on The Crimson Raider.

"We Need A Medic!" Jarryd said, carrying Jack over his shoulder onto the ship and onto a gurney. Team RWBY saw who had been injured and fell silent, fearing that the worst might happen, they followed the doctor and Jarryd to the medical wing, where Jack was struggling to keep his consciousness, and Jarryd was pleading. "Jack, Stay with me, stay with me Jack!"

"J-Jarryd" Was all that Jack could manage at the moment with blood oozing out of his mouth.

"You're gonna be ok Jack!"

"N-no, Jarryd, my time is up…" Jack solemnly told his best friend.

"No! Jack don't say that!" Jarryd was on the verge of tears.

"Jarryd...p-please, find people who t-treated you like I did...become the g-greatest huntsman and pirate...you can be...and g-get yourself a girlfriend for gods s-sakes…" Jack then closed his eyes "Jarryd, I'm sorry I have to go...b-but before I d-do, I have to t-tell you something…"

"Jack...please!"

"J-Jarryd, even though n-not by blood, I have a-always….thought of you...as...my...brother" Jack finished before his whole body went limp. Jarryd franticly searched for a pulse, but couldn't find one. It was no use, Jack was gone. That was when the team saw something from Jarryd they thought they never would...He cried. His father then saw the scene, ran inside the room and started hugging and comforting his son.

"Jarryd...I'm so sorry...Jack was a great man."

"It's the damn Navy's fault, first Amber, and now Jack!" Jarryd yelled to his father "I'm sorry dad, but I need some fresh air…"

"Of course...Jack's funeral will be tomorrow…" His father managed to get out before Jarryd speed-walked out of the room past his teammates, who didn't know what to say.

 **Ship Deck**

Jarryd stared out into sea, remembering the first time he met Jack.

 _Flashback_

 _5 year old Jarryd had been sitting on the edge of the ship, all by his lonesome. His father was too busy with planning out their next move, so he couldn't play with him. That was when a boy the same age as Jarryd, with blonde hair walked up next to him._

 _"Hey, what're you doing here all alone?" The kid asked Jarryd._

" _I wanted to play with my dad, but he's busy with work, and I don't have any friends" Jarryd replied._

 _"Well...I can play with you!" The kid yelled with a cheeky smile, which made Jarryd surprised._

 _"R-really!"_

" _Really, Really!" He said._

 _"By the way, I'm Jarryd!"_

" _Nice to meet you Jarryd! I'm Jack!"_

 _Flashback end_

Jarryd was almost in tears again, having memories about his now-dead best friend. Then he remembered, the Navy took Jack from him, they killed him, they were gonna pay. That was when a small pair of arms wrapped around Jarryd, and held on tight.

"Jarryd...I'm so sorry...I know what he meant to you…" Said Ruby's voice, as she was the one holding onto him.

"Ruby...the damn Navy! they have taken too much from me! they are gonna suffer the consequences for doing so." Jarryd replied in an angry tone.

"No! Jarryd, revenge isn't the answer!" She yelled at him.

"Why not!"

"Because it's not what Jack would want!" That shut him up.

"R-Ruby, you're right….Jack wouldn't want me to feel like this...and Ruby" Jarryd said turning to his leader.

"Yeah…"

"Thank you…" Was all Jarryd said, before he kissed her on the lips. Ruby was surprised at first, but then melted into Jarryd's warm embrace, the moment seemed to last a lifetime. They eventually pulled away because they had run out of breath...then Jarryd said 4 certain words. "Ruby...I love you…" The pirate said as he looked into her silver eyes.

"Jarryd….I...I love you too" Was Ruby's only reply as she kissed Jarryd yet again, when they backed away this time, a thought came to Jarryd's head.

"Oh crap, Yang's gonna kill me!" Jarryd said, to which Ruby giggled.

"I already took care of that, and she told me to tell you a few words."

"And what are they?" Jarryd asked.

"Be good to her or you die" Ruby said with a smile, Jarryd did as well, before he asked one last question.

"Does that mean we're...together"

"Of course it does, silly!"

 **Team RWBY's room**

Jarryd and Ruby walked into their room holding each other's hands, when the other 3 girls eyes looked at the scene.

"Awww" Yang cooed at the two lovebirds.

"You two look cute together" Blake said.

"Took you two long enough!" Weiss yelled.

After the team was done gawking at the new relationship in their group, they all decided to go to bed, Jarryd gave Ruby a quick kiss goodnight.

"Goodnight, my sweet rose…" Jarryd whispered to his new girlfriend.

"Goodnight, my swashbuckler…" Ruby whispered back as they both got into their own beds, and drifted off to sleep.

 **AANNNND DONE!**

 **Wow that was fun to write.**

 **R.I.P Jack**

 **I really hope that I didn't take the forming of the relationship too fast.**

 **Please review with questions, constructive criticism, or anything else. BYE BYE**


	6. Chapter 6

**Welcome back guys to another chapter of Buccaneer turned Hunter. But before we begin I have a quick announcement to make.**

 **Since I will have Jarryd fighting in the first single round of the Vytal tournament, I don't know who he should fight against. So I would like anyone to submit their own OC's so Jarryd can fight someone in the 2nd to last battle.**

 **Also, an announcement...Only if you people want...I can do a different writing with the pairing as Jarryd X Yang, say so if you'd like to see that**

 **Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to the late yet great Monty Oum, not me.**

 **LET'S GET ON WITH IT**

 **Next day - Jack's Funeral**

Every single crew member and Team RWBY showed up in a clump on the shore to send off Jack. Everyone had their turn to pay their respects, then it was Jarryd's turn to say his goodbyes to his brother in all but blood. He walked up to the coffin where Jack's body laid.

"Jack….Jack was the best man i've ever known. Me and him always had an unbreakable bond with each other, he did whatever he could to help me, and I did the same for him...Jack and I were pretty much polar opposites, I was silent and calm, he was loud and rambunctious, I always liked to plan things out, he would just rush in head-on, but the thing that made us get along was the fact that we were both orphans. He lost his parents at a young age, I never knew my biological parents" Jarryd had to pause for a moment to brush a tear away from his eye "And his last words were the fact that he thought of me as his brother, and now that I think about it….I feel the same way...it was too early for Jack to go...but he wouldn't want us to mourn him for too long...so Jack...I hate goodbyes….so farewell…" Jarryd finished with a smile, and tears rolling down his face. The crew erupted into applause, and his team looked at him with a smile as Jarryd turned around and walked back to his friends, gaining a quick kiss from Ruby, who he still couldn't believe loved him as much as he loved her. A minute later, Jarryd's father then closed Jack's coffin and then pushed it out into the water, everyone watched the coffin float away into the distance. The Red Band crew then went back onto the Crimson Raider as the captain then walked up to the Team and his son.

"Jarryd, all of you, thank you for stopping by...I will be sure to watch you all fight in the tournament." John said to the team, the team just smiled, as Jarryd walked up to his dad and gave him a hug "And make sure to keep up on your studies…"

"Thanks dad, try not to get into any more trouble while i'm gone…" The pirate replied to his father.

"No promises! Now run along…and treat her right" John replied, pointing to Ruby.

"How did you know?" Jarryd asked the captain with a smile.

"I told him" Yang answered, receiving a small glare from her teammate. The team then left for the airship back to Beacon.

 **Undisclosed warehouse**

Roman Torchwick had gone to deliver what he needed to, he had been tired since his run-in with Team RWBY, he set down the package on a table when a voice was heard from behind.

"How very disappointing Roman" The voice said, making Torchwick turnaround in surprise.

"Wasn't expecting to see you guys so soon" He said to a woman with black hair and a red dress, with two silhouetted people with their arms crossed right beside her.

"and **we** expected more from you…" The woman continued.

"Hey! You're the one who suggested working with the White Fang, and those kids had a member of The Red Band with them, The Red Band!" Roman retorted.

"The Red Band is nothing, though this 'kid' seems interesting...And we'll continue to work with the White Fang…" A fireball then appeared in the woman's hand "we have big plans for you Roman…" she said as her guards came out of the shadows, revealing one guy with gray hair and a girl with light green hair. "All we ask is for a little….cooperation" She finished as her eyes glowed orange.

 **Beacon cafeteria - next semester**

Blake had taken to drawing in her notebook, as of right now, she had just drawn a picture of a spiky haired man with a sword sheath on his back.

"What'cha doing!?" Yang asked trying to peer over her shoulder, Blake then closed the notebook.

"Just looking over notes from last semester" The faunus lied to her teammate.

"Lame" Was the only reply the blonde brawler gave as she caught a flying grape in her mouth, sent by Nora with the rest of JNPR from across the table. That was when a giant white book fell onto the table, causing Blake, Yang and Weiss, who was also eating lunch to jump back in surprise, they looked up to see Ruby.

"Sisters, friends….and Weiss..." She started, pointing to the two teams.

"Hey!" Weiss yelled in defense.

"Four score and seven minutes ago, I had a dream!" Ruby continued, sounding patriotic.

"This is gonna be good...hey Rubes, where's your boyfriend" Yang teased, also wondering where their pirate teammate had gone.

"He had to fetch something from Professor Port for Ozpin" The girl pouted, missing Jarryd at the moment "...anyways, it was a dream that one day, all of us would come together as a team and had the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!" Ruby excitingly yelled. Weiss seemed skeptical.

"Did you steal my binder?!" She yelled at her leader.

"I'm no crook…" Ruby whispered in defense.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

"I'm talking about kicking off this semester with a bang!" The young girl replied, to which Yang started to snicker.

"I always kick off my semesters with a _Yang_ " Yang said, making her team facepalm "Guys...eh, eh…" That was when a flying apple hit her in the head.

"Look, it's been a while and with the tournament at the end of the year, this semester is going to be great, but classes start again tomorrow. Which is why I have taken the time to schedule a series of great events for us today." Ruby said to her team, hoping to get her point across.

"I don't know whether to be scared or not at what you have in store" Weiss said, still skeptical about what the team leader meant. Yang threw an apple back at the person who threw one at her as Blake joined in.

"I don't know, I think I might sit this one out…" Blake started, causing the heiress to interrupt again

"I think however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team" The answer surprised the group, actually mentioning the team. "I for one think tha-" She was cut off when a pie hit her straight in the face, making everyone stop, and look to who threw the dessert. They looked to see Nora sit down and point to Ren, who was face-palming, Pyrrha and Jaune just had a look of shock on their face.

 **Outside the Lunchroom**

"We were fighting side-by-side, and she was super fast, and I threw a banana at a guy which sounds gross, but it was awesome" Said Sun Wukong, to a blue haired student with goggles and a red coat.

"Nice!" The bluenette replied to the monkey faunus.

"And she's even a faunus, how cool is that, but it's a secret ok?"

"Got it…" Was the only response Sun got.

"And not a 'I'm gonna tell Scarlet when Sun turns his back' kinda secret, I'm talking **secret** secret!"

"Woah chill out man, ok, I got it"

"You better!" Sun started "I really don't want to screw this up! The people here are the coolest, no offense to you though!" Sun said to his goggle-wearing friend.

"None taken" Was the reply Sun got, who had just noticed there was someone he recognized walking outside.

"Hey, there's someone I know!" Sun yelled as he ran up to see Jarryd in his school uniform, holding a file in his hand, looking around the area, he then noticed Sun and his friend.

"Well I'll be damned, Sun what're you doing here!" The pirate shook hands with the monkey-tailed man.

"I came here to see you guys, where's the rest of the team?" Sun asked his friend.

"In the cafeteria…say, who's this?" Jarryd then pointed to the blue-haired boy, who held out his hand.

"It's Neptune, Neptune Vasilias" The now identified Neptune answered, Jarryd took his hand and shook it.

"Names Jarryd Starks"

"He's a member of The Red Band!" Sun softly yelled to Neptune, whose eyes widened at the info.

"You're joking right?" Was the only thing that came out of his mouth. Jarryd chuckled and answered his question.

"Nope, my father is the captain!"

"You must have some stories to tell…" Neptune replied, still in shock that the person before them was a member of the most feared pirates on the seas.

"That I do, come on, I'll take you to the team!" Jarryd then lead the duo to the cafeteria and opened the door. The 3 did not expect to be greeted with a mob of other students running out of the cafeteria. "Oh boy…" Jarryd started when he noticed team JNPR on a tower of tables, Nora then laughed maniacally.

"I'm queen of the castle, I'm queen of the castle!" She sang, as she was on the very top of the tower. The 3 who had just entered the room looked to the left to see Ruby standing on top of a table with a milk carton in her hand.

"Justice will be swift, justice will be painful!" She yelled as she squeezed the carton, making milk go everywhere "It will be delicious!" Jarryd sweatdropped at his girlfriend's antics as the rest of Team RWBY appeared behind her. That was when Team JNPR then dropped to the ground and started chucking watermelons at the 4 girls. "Yang, turkey!" Ruby ordered her sister, who shoved her hands into two turkeys and started using them like she used the Ember Celica and started punching every single watermelon out of midair. Blake then leapt over her and grabbed 2 baguette off the ground and started slashing with them like swords, helping Yang take down all the watermelons. Yang then launched one of her turkey-gauntlets at Pyrrha and Jaune, Pyrrha rolled out of the way and Jaune got hit in the face. Pyrrha also grabbed a baguette and started dueling with Blake, who did all kinds of flips and turns to dodge Pyrrha's oncoming attacks. Eventually Blake was hit and knocked to the ground, Pyrrha then threw multiple slices of bread at Yang, who started kicking them out of the air, then was nailed in the stomach by one and sent flying across the room. That was when Ruby started using a lunch tray like a skateboard to get close to Pyrrha, Ruby tried to land on the red-haired girl with the tray, but Pyrrha put up her arms and sent the young leader backwards, then Nora and Ren bursted forward. Weiss then grabbed a bottle and sent a wave of ketchup the way of the duo, making Ren slip and crash into a bunch of tables, Nora then jumped on the flying furniture and grabbed a metal bar from the ceiling and impaled a lone watermelon, forming a hammer, and swung at Weiss. Ruby then stepped in front of her white haired teammate, taking the hit full force and was sent flying into a group of tables, while Weiss rolled out of the way and picked up a lone swordfish on the ground, and held it like she would her rapier. Jarryd wondered two things, Was Ruby ok, and since when did the school serve swordfish! Weiss was able to block a few attacks before getting hit and sent flying into the wall, the heiress fell and Ruby caught her in her arms. "Weiss...don't leave me…" The girl then went limp "NOOO!" The action reminded Jarryd of how he acted with Jack. That was when Yang came back into the fight, she picked up her turkey-gauntlets again as Ren recovered from his earlier tumble and picked up 2 green onions and rushed towards the blonde. Yang then kicked at Ren, who blocked the strike, Yang then sent a fury of punches towards Ren who kept on blocking, was eventually uppercutted into the air. The brawler then jumped up and punched Ren straight into the ground, then Nora came to his rescue and swung up at Yang, knocking her out of the ceiling. Blake then rejoined the fray, grabbed a link of sausages and started using it as a whip, slamming Nora into a vending machine. Nora quickly recovered, shook up a lone soda can and threw it at Blake, the can exploded, sending the cat-faunus flying backwards, Pyrrha then used her polarity to send every single can flying at Blake, who then was sent flying into the wall and landed with a hard thud. That was when Ruby had enough, she used her speed make wind send everything in the room fly back at JNPR like a tornado, blasting them into the wall as food then splattered all over them, painting the wall like it was modern art, Ruby then landed on the ground in a badass fashion.

"I love these guys" was all Sun had to say, Jarryd then looked to Neptune, who was covered in food and fuming. That was when Professor Goodwitch burst in the door with an angry look on her face, she then used her semblance to put everything in the lunchroom back together.

"Children...please don't play with your food" was all Goodwitch said, in a calm tone as everyone got up and looked towards the teacher, then Yang fell back into the room, got back up and gave a thumbs up. Then, Ozpin walked into the room, and patted Glynda on the back.

"Let it go…" Was all he said.

"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world" She replied softly, over all the laughing in the room

"They will be but right now they're still just children, so why not let them play the part," Ozpin then walked back, Jarryd quickly gave Ozpin the file he was sent to get, he continued talking "after all, it isn't a role they will have forever" With that, Ozpin and Goodwitch left the room, Sun and Neptune also left to clean themselves up, Jarryd just walked over to the two teams.

"What the hell did I just watch?" Jarryd said with a chuckle as every eye turned to him, his girlfriend was the one who answered him.

"The most epic food fight EVER!" Ruby yelled at her boyfriend, who just came over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as she wrapped herself around Jarryd's arm

"You could've helped us you know!" Weiss yelled at the pirate, who just smirked.

"You all seemed like you were having fun, I didn't want to interrupt or give an unfair advantage." Jarryd replied with a smile. "Also, did Yang just survive from atmospheric reentry?!" He asked, now looking at the blonde, everyone just laughed. "I'm serious, Is that even possible!" He kept on asking, not even noticing Sun and Neptune left.

 **Beacon Library - 2 hours later.**

The team of 5 were sitting quietly in the library playing 'Remnant: The Game'. Weiss, Blake, Yang and Jarryd were all waiting for their young leader to make her next move, which they had been waiting for about 10 minutes before she finally spoke up.

"Yang Xiao Long!" She yelled, pointing at her sister "Prepare your kingdom for battle!"

"Bring it on!" The brawler yelled back.

"Holy crap, just attack already…" Jarryd whispered to himself, though he loved Ruby, she takes a long time to attack when it's her turn, when he comes up with a strategy in 5 seconds.

"I deploy...The Atlesian air fleet!" Ruby said, holding up the card, Yang gasped in horror. "So I get to fly right over your Ursi and attack your walls directly!" Ruby finished with a demented smile as she made hand motions of what she said.

"You Fiend!

"And since Atlas is part of Mantle, my repair time only lasts **1** turn!" The leader said with a smirk, but Yang just started laughing.

"Sneaky sis, but you just activated my trap card, Giant Nevermore!" Yang yelled bringing her fist down on the table, Ruby just shrieked, "If I roll a seven, it's fatal feathers will slice your fleet in two!" Her sister just got a tiny smirk.

"But if you roll a six or lower The Nevermore will turn on your own forces!"

"That's a chance I'm willing to take…" Yang stated, getting in a stare down with her younger sister as she rolled the die, as luck would have it, it landed on a seven.

"NOOO! My fearless soldiers!" Ruby yelled as the turn was over, she swore she would get revenge, but Jarryd quickly placed his card.

"Mistralian directional stealth bombers, getting past each of your defenses and bringing all of your capitals down to zero" Jarryd just smirked "I win!" He finished with a smile, causing Yang and Ruby, to groan, Weiss didn't know how to play, and thus didn't play, and Blake wasn't paying attention.

"How do you win every time!" Yang yelled, to which Jarryd just closed his eyes, smile still on his face.

"I plan ahead, if you can get into the mindset of the people you face, you can tell what they are going to do." The pirate finished, only getting a cry from Ruby.

"Curse you and your strategies!" She yelled with a fist raised in the air. Jaune then came over to the table.

"Can I have next game?" He asked with a confident tone.

"Sorry Jaune, we already got four people" Ruby replied apologetically.

"Besides, It seems like the game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I doubt you possess" Weiss scolded the hooded soldier.

"Some more than others…" Yang said with a scowl, looking at Jarryd, who raised his hands up defensively.

"Bring it on! I'll have you know that I have been told I'm a natural born leader!" Jaune stated proudly.

"By who? Your mother?" Weiss asked, bringing Jaune's pride level back down to zero.

"And Pyrrha!" He motioned to his red-headed teammate, who just waved in response. Jaune then kept begging them to play, but was dragged away by Pyrrha.

"'Sup losers!" The team heard from behind them, they turned around to see Sun making a peace sign with his hand.

"Hey Sun, where'd you go after the food fight?" Jarryd asked, remembering that Sun was nowhere to be found after the battle of epic proportions.

"Not important!" The monkey tailed faunus waved off the question before continuing. " Ruby, Yang, Blake...Ice Queen" He trailed on.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?!" Weiss asked, though never getting a response.

"I wanted to introduce you to an old friend…" He gestured to Neptune, who had been standing beside Sun the whole time.

"Uhhh….aren't libraries for reading?" Neptune asked, looking at the board game setup.

"Thank you!" Ren yelled from the other table where JNPR was originally 'studying'.

"Pancakes!" Nora yelled for no apparent reason.

"Shut up, don't be a nerd." Was Sun's reply to Neptune's question.

"Anyways I'm Neptune" He said turning back to the team. Weiss looked at the blue-haired boy with adoring eyes.

"So...Neptune, where are you from?" She asked in a flirty way, earning a facepalm from Jarryd.

'Dear Monty, help us all!' The pirate thought before Neptune answered.

"Haven, and I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel" Neptune said in an equally flirty way.

"I-I'm Weiss…" The heiress got out, earning a groan from Jaune.

"Are you kidding me!" Jaune softly yelled, since he had been trying to get Weiss to go out with him since the beginning of the year.

"I never took you as the board-game playing type" Sun told Blake, who gave him a stern look.

"Right...I think I'm done playing actually…see you guys later…" Blake got out of her chair and walked off, Sun only shrugged his shoulders as Blake's teammates looked with worry.

"Women…" Nora said from the other table, making everyone turn to her with a confused look at the irony in the sentence.

 **With Blake - Team RWBY's dorm**

 _Flashback._

 _"Brothers of the White Fang, why are you aiding this scum?!"_

" _Didn't you get the memo, the White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together…" These were the words that played through Blake's head while she was in Ozpin's office._

 _"Since you just stopped a robbery, I bet you just want to go and take a nap" Ozpin started as he walked into the room "But I was hoping we could chat"_

 _"Of course" Was Blake's only reply._

" _Good, as you know, to enroll at my academy students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam, most applicants spend years of preparation training at one of the many combat schools around the world, you're one of the few who didn't, and you passed the exam with flying colors…" Ozpin told the cat faunus._

" _I was raised outside the kingdoms, if you can't fight, you can't survive" Was all she said in reply._

" _Well, you definitely survived...I admire your drive, and I'm proud to run a school that accepts individuals from all walks of life, rich, poor, human, faunus…" Blake scowled, seeing where the Professor was going. "Why do you wear that bow Blake? Why hide who you are?"_

" _You may be willing to accept the faunus, Professor Ozpin, but your species is not!" Blake replied angrily._

" _True, but we_ _ **are**_ _continuing to make strides to lessen the divide"_

" _With all due respect, you need to start making some larger strides, until then, i'd rather avoid unnecessary attention, I want people to see for for who I am...not what I am"_

 _"And just exactly what are you…?" Ozpin asked with a stern look, unhappy with the attitude his student was giving him._

 _"I-I don't understand the question sir…" Blake responded with a worried look._

" _How did you know the White Fang would be at the shipyard tonight?" Ozpin leaned over the table._

 _"I didn't" Blake lied "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."_

" _You wouldn't be the first...but what happened tonight was not an isolated incident, I may be your headmaster, but i'm also a huntsmen, and it's my sworn duty to protect this world from the forces that conspire against it….Blake, are you sure there is nothing else you would like to tell me?" Ozpin asked the cat faunus, who just looked down._

 _"I'm sure…" Was all Blake replied with._

" _Very well...thank you for your time Ms. Belladonna." Ozpin said, getting up from his chair and walking out of the room. "If you ever need to talk, please don't hesitate to ask."_

 _Flashback end_.

"Jeez, I didn't know Jaune was that good, I'm actually glad Jarryd won now" Yang said as the rest of the team entered the room.

"You're just mad 'cause the new guy took you down, besides, none of this would have happened if-" Ruby tried to tell her sister, but Weiss interrupted, who had noticed Blake going to the door.

"Stop!" The heiress yelled, causing Blake to stop in her tracks, the other 3 turned to see what was going on. "You've been very quiet, anti-social and moody as of late"

"Uhh….Weiss….you remember who you are talking to, right?" Jarryd jumped in.

"Quiet you!" The ice queen replied, pointing to the pirate, who raised up his arms in defense. Weiss turned back to Blake "I get that that's kinda your 'thing', but you've been doing it more than usual, which quite frankly is unacceptable, you made a promise to me...no...all of us, that you would let us know if something was wrong. So...Blake Belladonna, what is wrong!" She finished, after doing a flip in the air, landing on a chair and pointing at the faunus. Weiss quickly put the chair back, as Yang, Ruby and Jarryd looked in confusion at what just happened.

"I just...I don't understand how everybody can be so calm…" Blake replied, making Jarryd speak up.

"Let me guess...Torchwick and the White Fang…" Blake just nodded at the comment.

"Yes! They are planning something big, I'm sure of it!"

"Blake, Ozpin told us not to worry….plus even then, if anything popped up, we can handle it...as a team" Jarryd kept going.

"But what if we can't! They, you all don't know the White Fang like I do!" Blake yelled at her 4 teammates, who just looked to each other and shrugged.

"Look between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure you 4 think you ready to try and apprehend the naer-do-wells." Weiss said, while rubbing her hands together.

"Who?" Was the reply Ruby gave, only for Weiss to continue.

"But let me once again be the voice of reason...we're students, we're not ready to handle this sort of situation" The heiress said, earning a scowl from Jarryd.

"Now listen her-" Jarryd tried to get in before being cut off.

"We're not ready!" Weiss yelled at the pirate.

"And we may never be ready!" Blake jumped in again "our enemies are not gonna sit around and wait for graduation day, they're out there somewhere, planning their next move and none of us know what it is, but it's coming, whether we're ready or not!"

"Then we become ready…" The girl's heads turned towards Jarryd "I don't know about you girls, but i'm not gonna sit on my ass and watch a bunch of criminals walk all over everyone!" He said looking up, Weiss and Blake were looking at him sternly, while Yang and Ruby smiled.

"Okay! All in favor of become the youngest huntsmen and huntresses to take down a corrupt organization conspiring against the kingdom of Vale...say aye" Ruby said proudly.

"Yes, I love it when you're feisty" Yang replied to her sister.

"I suppose it could be fun...:" Weiss said, surprising Yang and Jarryd.

"You already know my answer, I'm in!" Jarryd told his girlfriend.

"None of you said aye!" The leader said, a tiny bit disappointed, to which Jarryd just sighed.

"Aye…" The pirate said, making his girlfriend run over and hug him.

"That's better!"

"Alright then, we're in this together" Blake said with a small smile.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's hatch a plan!" Ruby stated to the team.

"Now we're talking!" Jarryd said happily as Yang just rolled her eyes. Suddenly, Ruby gasped.

"I left my board game in the library!" She yelled before running off in a burst of rose petals.

"We're doomed…" Weiss said, face meeting her palm.

"I'll be right back!" Ruby got in before running into something...or someone to be precise. She got back up and quickly apologized.

"I'm so sorry! You alright?"

"I'm fine, just watch where you are going…" Replied a girl with dark skin and green hair, standing next to her was a boy with gray hair, both of them in a school uniform.

"I'm guessing Haven, judging by the uniform…" Ruby looked behind her to see Jarryd. "The girls right, watch where you're running next time.

"Well, you are correct" Said another voice from behind the 2 Haven students, revealing another student with long black hair, the girl then looked at Jarryd and recognized him as the man described to her by Roman Torchwick (If you don't know who this is, I'm slightly ashamed.). 'So...he's the member of The Red Band...Interesting…'

"Oh, you're here for the festival aren't you!" Ruby said, excited to meet other transfer students.

"Don't exchange students have their own dorm?" The pirate asked.

"I guess we just got turned around…" The boy with gray hair spoke up.

"Happens all the time" Ruby said, understanding the predicament, while Jarryd gave the 3 a skeptical look. "Your building's just east of here!"

"Thanks, maybe we will see you around…." The girl with black hair said before heading in the direction Ruby told them to go.

"Yeah, maybe….oh, and welcome to Beacon!" Ruby yelled down the hallway. "They seemed nice." She told her boyfriend, who still had squinted eyes.

"I'm still not sure...something seemed up with them though." Was his only reply.

"You're crazy…" She stated while punching him in the arm lightly

"Maybe...maybe not…. I'm going to bed" Jarryd said, giving Ruby a kiss before walking back to the room "Night Ruby"

"Night Jarryd" She replied, running off to the library to pick up her board game.

 **The next day**

Professor Port's class was boring, what else was new, Team RWBY was sitting in their usual spot, all of them almost asleep, even Weiss, who was now getting pestered by Jaune.

"I was thinking Weiss, maybe after this, we could grab a bite to eat?" Jaune asked the heiress. "I-I also have two tickets to that Spruce Willis movie if you wanna make the trip to Vale, I hear it's awesome" The hooded soldier kept trying, Weiss wasn't even listening, when the bell went off.

"I guess I time that one wrong!" Port said trying to finish up one of his stories "Well the great conclusion to this tale will have to wait till next time!"

"Did you hear what I said Weiss?" Jaune asked the girl, who just got up from her seat.

"No, No, No, No, Yes" She replied, answering each of his questions, the girl walked off as Jaune sighed. Team RWBY started to follow their white-haired teammate, Jarryd rubbed Jaune's head as he went by.

"Keep trying bud" Was all the pirate said. The team then went to their dorm room and got into their undercover clothes, Blake wearing white shirt, Weiss wearing a white Jacket, Ruby just shed her overcoat, Yang was in a yellow jacket, and Jarryd wore a maroon hoodie.

"I thought that class would never end…" Blake said getting her ribbons situated under her clothes.

"Ok team! The investigation begins!" Ruby yelled, jumping off her bunk bed.

"Glad to see we are taking this seriously" Weiss replied sarcastically .

"Hey we have a plan! That's….moderately serious!" Yang responded, trying to bring back up Blake's mood.

"It may not be the best plan, but hey, it's something." Jarryd jumped in.

"Right! So...everyone remember their rolls?" Ruby asked the team, hoping to get a response.

"You and I will head to the CCT and check the Schnee company records for other dust robberies or inconsistencies, seeing as I'm in the family, it shouldn't be a problem…" Weiss said to her leader, getting a smile.

"The White Fang hold regular faction meetings to recruit new members, if i can get in, I can hopefully find out what they're planning." Blake responded.

"I have a friend on the other side of town that typically knows about everything that's going on in Vale, it should be easy getting info out of him, especially with my partner at my side!" Yang said, pointing to Jarryd, who just smirked.

"This should be fun…" Was all that came out of the buccaneer's mouth.

"Awesome, we'll group up tonight near Yang and Jarryd to go over what we found, let's do this!" Ruby yelled, fist pumping the air.

"Yeah!" Said a voice from outside the window, they all looked to see Sun, hanging upside down by the end of his talk. Everyone jumped back in shock, except Jarryd, who just walked over and started to shut the window. "Wait, wait, wait!" Sun pleaded, making Jarryd let go of the window and start laughing.

"Y-you should see your face right now!" Jarryd laughed at Sun's expression.

"Not cool!" Sun yelled at his friend.

"anyways...how did you get up there?" Yang asked the monkey-tailed faunus.

"I do this all the time" He replied, Weiss thought that meant something different.

"You what!?" She practically yelled.

"I climb trees all the time" He said climbing into the room "So, we finally gonna go after that Torchwick guy?"

"We are gonna investigate...as a team…" Blake replied, hoping Sun could take a hint.

"Sorry Sun, we don't want to get friends involved if we have to…" Ruby told the blonde faunus

"Pffft, that's dumb, you should always get friends involved, that's why I brought Neptune" Sun responded, pointing behind him, the team looked out the window to see Neptune standing on the windowsill. Neptune just nodded his head, causing the girls to sigh.

"I can understand how Sun got up here...but how did you get up here Neptune?" Jarryd asked the bluenette.

"I have my ways…" Was the only reply that he got, making him facepalm.

"That doesn't exactly answer my question…"

"Seriously though, can I come in? We're pretty high up right now" Neptune said, looking towards the ground in fear. The team eventually let the two boys in, now establishing their roles in the plan.

"Ok...Sun, you can go with Blake...and Neptune, you can go with Yang and Jarryd" The team leader said, earning a gasp from Weiss.

"Why doesn't Neptune come with us Ruby, I'm sure Jarryd and Yang will be fine on their own". Ruby thought if over for about 5 seconds.

"Nah" The scythe-wielder replied before dragging Weiss off.

"Well, I guess we should all head out to then…" Jarryd commented, as he, Yang and Neptune walked off.

(A/N: I'm only gonna cover Yang, Jarryd and Neptune's part here)

 **Juniors Nightclub entrance**

Yang, Jarryd and Neptune had just pulled up on Yang's motorcycle, Jarryd riding on the back and Neptune in a sidecar.

"My friends just inside here" Yang said, getting off her bike, Jarryd just got off and laughed at the expression Neptune had on his face from the speed Yang took.

"Cool, and where exactly is 'here'?" Neptune asked, only earning a small smile from Yang as they entered the building. When they opened the door, 2 guards immediately recognized Yang and quickly ran inside, and sealed the doors.

"Freakin' morons, Yang, your time to shine" Jarryd said to his blonde teammate.

"With pleasure" Yang replied, and quickly punched the door with all her might, causing an explosion that opened the door. "Right this way!" She said as she and Jarryd walked into the room, Neptune was in awe at the strength he just bore witness to. "Guess who's back!" The brawler yelled to everyone in the building, which Jarryd quickly identified as a nightclub, with a bar, dance floor, and blaring music. Guns were immediately pointed at the 2 teammates, by a bunch of men in black suits, and fedoras.

"As I said, freaking. morons." The pirate said with a smirk on his face as he unsheathed Crimson Fury, Yang also smirked, getting her hands ready. Neptune then entered the scene as the DJ then turned off the music.

"Uh...what exactly is your definition of 'friend'" Neptune said from behind the group.

"Stop! Nobody shoot!" Said a man with black hair and a full beard, wearing a black vest, white undershirt and red tie. "Blondie, you're here, and you brought two friends with you, why exactly?" the guy said, who Jarryd assumed to be the 'friend' Yang talked about.

"You still owe me a drink" Yang stated as she walked towards the man and dragged him off, leaving Jarryd and Neptune behind.

"Whoa...what a woman" Neptune gawked, still in awe, causing Jarryd to chuckle.

"Don't get your hopes up…" Was all that Jarryd replied with before following Yang. When he reached her, she was at the bar with the man, who had just finished a drink.

"I don't know!" He told Yang, who just got angry.

"How could you not know!" Yang yelled at the man.

"I haven't talked to him, I haven't even seen him since that night you first came in here. He paid up front, I lent him my men and none of them ever came back" The bearded man finished, standing up.

"First off, I don't believe I know your name, sir, I'm Jarryd, and second, where do you think they went?" Jarryd asked the man, as both his and Yang's eyes turned to him.

"Finally someone polite, Name's Junior, and not to be rude, but that is kind of a stupid question, I just said they never came back" The man, now known as Junior replied as Neptune then walked up to the bar.

"Just….Just tell us what we want to know!" Yang yelled again, getting impatient.

"I already told you everything! Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is something I can relate to!" Junior yelled to his men, hinting at their behavior earlier.

"Come on you two, let's go!" Yang said as she turned around to leave, Neptune followed, and Jarryd quickly thanked Junior for his help and followed the others. "Hopefully the rest of the team had better luck"

"We got what we could, and that's what matters...we just now have to wait on the others." The pirate said, trying to lighten the mood. That was when Jarryd got a call on his scroll from Blake.

"Everyone, we need you!" They heard their faunus teammate say.

"HEEELLLPPP!" Sun yelled into the scroll. "They have a robot, and it's big, really big!"

"This should be fun" Jarryd said sarcastically, as they listened for further detail

"The Torchwick guy is in it! I mean, it didn't eat him but he's controlling it or something "

"Where are you guys?" Yang asked, only to be answered by a giant robot running by, chasing Sun.

"I think that's our answer" Neptune commented, as the 3 jumped onto Yang's bike, and sped after the robot. The 3 were now on the bridge, as the robot was still chasing down Blake and Sun, Yang had to swerve to avoid the oncoming traffic, making Neptune go dizzy.

"We need to slow it down!" Yang yelled to the two boys.

"On it!" Neptune yelled, now out of his dizzy stupor. He pulled out his rifle, only to see a bunch of cars flying through the air towards them.

"Crap! Hold on!" Jarryd yelled as Yang swerved even more to avoid the barrage of automobiles. Neptune was finally able to get out his pulse rifle, and he fired at the robot. Neptune then turned his rifle into a javelin and jumped off the bike, and onto the robot.

"Hang on buddy!" Sun yelled to his friend, who was being attempted to be shaken off by the Torchwick-piloted machine. Sun then used his semblance to send a couple of light clones at the mechanized soldier, only for them to be taken down in one hit. Sun tried to jump at the robot, only for it to finally shake off Neptune and send them flying into one another, and off of the bridge. That was when Jarryd and Yang saw Weiss jump down from the top of the bridge, rapier at the ready, the machine charged as Weiss used one of her glyphs to turn the ground to ice, causing the machine to fall over and roll off the side of the bridge. Blake, Weiss, Yang and Jarryd then jumped down, with weapons at the ready, to see Ruby already in fighting position.

"Freezerburn" Ruby yelled, the team knew what this meant, as a couple weeks ago they decided to coordinate team attacks with cool names. This particular one made Weiss summon another ice glyph as Yang jumped into the air and smashed the ice, making a mist appear, allowing the robots targeting systems to start searching. The team then started running across the field of view of the bot, making it fire at them, a rocket eventually hit Blake and Yang at the same time. Ruby then rushed the machine, but was blocked and sent back. "Checkmate!" The leader now yelled, making Blake and Weiss run towards the legs of the machine, and started slashing, Weiss then jumped and impaled one of the guns, making it go offline, the two then ran back, dodging rocket fire and bullets. The machine then sent out a storm of missiles, when Jarryd jumped in front of them, time seemed to slow down for the pirate as he slashed at all of the missiles with Crimson Fury, slicing them all in half and creating a small explosion. "Murky waters" Blake then created a couple of shadow clones, and rushed forward with all of them, Jarryd used his semblance to take water from under the bridge and use it the propel Blake and her clones towards the robot, with a speed that the untrained eye couldn't see, Blake and her clones then swiped at the bot, causing a bit more damage, even slicing off an arm in the process. Yang then jumped onto the robot and started punching, but Torchwick had none of it, and used the bot's jet boosters to send her through a couple steel pillars, eventually embedding her into one. She then fell as the machine raised its fist and hit her out of the air, sending her through one more pillar.

"Yang!" Blake yelled, worried about her teammate.

"Don't worry, with each hit she takes, she get's stronger...and she uses that energy to fight back" Ruby tried to calm down her faunus friend as Yang then got up, long hair glowing.

"Huh, ain't that handy…" Was all that Jarryd said, thinking that the semblance was pretty convenient. Yang then clenched her fist as the robot tried to swing again, but this time, Yang blocked the shot, her eyes glowing red, she then punched the Paladin, or so he heard it was called by Blake, the robot's other arm then came off, rendering the machine almost useless. Torchwick then forced the leg of the Paladin to kick Yang back to the team.

"Bumblebee!" Ruby yelled, Blake then sent out one of her ribbons, which Yang caught. Blake then pulled back on the ribbon, bringing Yang with it, she then circled around the robot, only getting a strong kick in, sending it slightly backwards. "We need to slow it down!" The leader yelled.

"And how do you suppose we do that" Weiss retorted, only receiving a smirk from Ruby.

"Ice Flower!" Ruby yelled as she switched Crescent Rose into sniper mode, and Weiss summoned another ice glyph. Ruby shot many sniper rounds through the glyphs, coating them in ice, and when they hit, the parts of the bot would freeze solid. Yang circled around again, and punched the Paladin so hard, it broke apart, leaving Roman Torchwick uncovered.

"Just got this damn suit cleaned!" Roman yelled as he saw Yang fire a shot towards him, only for a girl with a multi-colored suit and hair, with a matching parasol, blocked the attack.

"Ladies...Pirate...always a pleasure...Neo, if you would" He said to the girl, now identified as Neo, who just curtsied. Yang charged forward angrily and punched at the multi-colored girl, but when she hit, the two just shattered like a mirror. The team looked up to see the 2 criminals flying away in an airship.

"Guess he has a new henchmen" Yang said, angry that they got away.

"Yeah...I guess she really made our plans... _fall apart"_ Weiss replied, earning chuckles from Blake and Ruby, as Jarryd just facepalmed, Yang just looked at her with a glare.

"No….just..no."

"What! but you do that all the time!" Weiss said, irritated at how she couldn't have any fun with the situation.

"There is a time and place for jokes…" Yang continued, only for Weiss to look angrily.

"Was this not one of them!" The heiress yelled.

"No, it just...wasn't very good" Yang said with a smile as her eyes returned to normal and her hair stopped glowing.

"At least i'm trying!" Weiss tried to plead with the blonde.

"Hey...where are Sun and Neptune?" Jarryd asked, making the girl's eyes go wide.

 **Noodle house - downtown Vale**

Sun and Neptune had recovered from the hit they had taken earlier and dried off, since they landed in the water.

"Think they'll be fine?" Sun asked his friend

"Probably…" Neptune answered.

 **ANNND DONE!**

 **Anybody see that new Captain America: Civil War trailer, damn sweet.**

 **Remember to review with questions, comments, or constructive criticism.**

 **CYA NEXT TIME**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wazzup peeps**

 **I….really have no news for you so let's just….GET ON WITH IT**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, that gift belongs to Rooster teeth, I only own Jarryd and the rest of the Red Band, Capeshe.**

 **Combat class**

Team RWBY was just chilling in the stands, watching the spar unfold before them. Pyrrha had been told to face off against the entirety of team CRDL, which of course, was no problem for the red-headed girl. The match had finally ended after Cardin took a shot to the stomach as his other teammates aura was in the red area. Professor Goodwitch then walked over to the victor of the fight.

"Excellent job, Ms. Nikos, you should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." The teacher told Pyrrha, who gave a smile in response. "Now, we still have time for one more match….how about….Ms. Belladonna." Blake then looked up at the teacher, because she wasn't paying attention. "You've been rather docile the past few classes, why don't yo-" Glynda tried to finish, but was cut off.

"I'll do it" A student said with little enthusiasm, Ruby and Jarryd turned around to see the silver-haired Haven student from the night before.

"Mercury, was it?" Mercury just nodded in response "Very well, let's find you an opponent."

"Actually, I wanna fight her…" He said, pointing to Pyrrha, making her recoil in surprise.

"I'm afraid Ms. Nikos just finished a match, I recommend you choose another student" Ms. Goodwitch said to the boy, Pyrrha was about to jump in, allowing it, but Mercury then looked for another opponent.

"How about….you?" Mercury stated, now pointing to Jarryd "You up for a round?" Jarryd then looked to his teammates, who just shrugged.

"Ok...sure why not." The pirate replied to the silver boy's request as the both headed down to the arena.

"Kick his butt, Jarryd!" He heard his leader and girlfriend yell. Both boys made their way onto the stage, Jarryd took a position and stood still, waiting for Mercury to do the same, but Mercury was only circling him. Mercury then took a boxing stance, which shocked the swordsman.

"You're going to fight without a weapon?" Jarryd asked with a tilted head, to which Mercury just smirked.

"It's what I do…" Was the only response he gave.

"Whatever you say…" Jarryd replied, unsheathing Crimson Fury and taking a dueling stance. The two then stared eachother down, until Mercury charged forward, attempting to kick Jarryd, who just blocked the strike and tried to sweep the street-fighter's legs. Mercury then did a series of flips backwards to avoid the sweep, and gain some ground, this time it was Jarryd's turn to charge at him. Jarryd swung at the boy, only for him to swiftly block the blow with the armoured plating on his wrists. Mercury jumped back and skidded across the floor, he then looked at the pirate with a somewhat impressed face. Then, the silver haired boy tried to do a tornado kick, which had the same result as the first kick, blocked by the blade of Crimson Fury, though another kick came fast, Jarryd barely dodged as he stepped back, preparing himself for what would come next, strategies running through his mind rapidly. 'If he does another tornado kick, I could go under his legs and get a strike in from behind. Or if he decides to punch sooner or later, I could grab his arm with my free hand and throw him down and pin him' All these ideas came into the pirate' head, until Mercury decided to charge one more time, only to have one of Jarryd's first strategies turned on him. Mercury punched at Jarryd, only for the swordsman to catch his arm, Jarryd dropped his sword for a second and used his other hand to lift Mercury off the ground, over his head, and down to the ground. Jarryd was ready to pin the boy, but Mercury got back up almost inhumanely quick, Jarryd picked up his cutlass from off the ground, and threw a water bomb in mid-air. Jarryd then pulled out Venom, and shot the piece of glass that was still in flight, making H2O spill everywhere, to which Jarryd shot his hand towards his opponent, sending a jetstream of water after him, Mercury was about to be nailed in the stomach, when he said 2 words.

"I forfeit" Jarryd then quickly let the water fall to the ground, not wanting the quitter to get hurt unnecessarily. "If you hit me with that, I would have been sent stumbling back, or worse, that would have given you an opening to end the fight, I can tell we are not on the same level" Ms. Goodwitch stepped forward.

"I guess Mr. Starks is the winner of this match, next time, think about finishing the fight" Goodwitch said with a stern look.

"I'll be sure to do that…" Mercury said before walking back up to his green-haired teammate, who was also in the stands, but fuming.

"Well… that's all for today, remember the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on monday, no excuses!" The teacher finished, before Jarryd walked back up to meet with his team, Yang was the first to say something as they all left the room.

"Nice job...I guess" Yang said with a sheepish smile.

"Trust me, I'm just as confused as all of you are." Jarryd replied as he kept walking. Blake had been falling behind, as she was looking at her notebook, and not where she was going, when a hand appeared on her shoulder.

"Hey, Blake, you doing ok?" Asked Sun, who was the owner of the hand on her shoulder.

"I'm fine…" The faunus replied, barely looking up from her notebook.

"So...I hear there's a dance this weekend...I know it sounds boring but...you and me, I'm thinking not as bad, huh?" Blake only gave a confused look. "The dance, this weekend, you wanna go or what."

"I don't have time for a dance, I thought you of all people would get that." She replied before walking off as her teammates just watched the dilemma before them, Sun just looked defeated. Jarryd walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't let it get you down, she's just a bit irritated and restless after Torchwick got away, we'll talk to her" Sun just looked at the pirate with a small smile, and nodded.

 **RWBY's dorm**

"You what!" Blake yelped in surprise.

"We want you to go to the dance." Ruby stated to the B of the team.

"No way!"

"Blake, we get it, the whole investigation on the White Fang is stressing you out, we're worried about you" Jarryd commented.

"You don't eat, sleep, and honestly, your grades have been suffering" Weiss said with a surprisingly worried look.

"You think I care about grades?! People's lives are at stake!" Blake yelled to the team, causing Yang to jump in.

"We know, and we're trying to find out what Torchwick is up to" Yang said, trying to calm the faunus down.

"Thank's to you and Sun, we know that they are operating somewhere outside of southeast Vale" Ruby chimed in, also trying to lighten the mood.

"And thank's to the company records Weiss got, we know that they singled out Vale as the primary dust robbery target" Jarryd added on with a smile. "Though we can't forget about the missing military equipment."

"But there are still unanswered question!" Blake replied, trying to convince them.

"We won't be able to find anything if you can't even keep your eyes open…" Ruby said. Yang then jumped in for a final time.

"All we ask is that you take it easy for just one day"

"It'll be fun!" Weiss stated with a smile "Yang and I will make sure of it…"

"Yeah, we're planning the whole event!" Yang jumped, which resulted in the room shaking.

"Team CFVY's away mission has lasted longer than originally thought, making Yang and I take over for them, so we can make sure that your night is perfect." Weiss said with a dignified expression.

"And once that's over, the investigation begins again, but we will be rested and ready for anything" Jarryd jumped in, only to have Blake scoff.

"This is a colossal waste of time…" She said before getting up and walking out of the room "I'll be in the library" Jarryd just sighed at the response she gave.

"This can't keep up for much longer…" The team then heard a knock on the door, Weiss got up and opened it, only for the team to see Jaune, standing outside with a guitar in his hands.

"WEEEEIIIISSS" Jaune sang before the door was immediately closed on him, he knocked on the door again. "Aww...come on...open up…" Weiss just facepalmed "I promise not to sing" Weiss decided to give him one more shot, as she opened the door. "I LIEEEEED!" Weiss just face palmed, as Jarryd, Yang and Ruby were almost on the floor from laughter as he kept singing, "Weiss Schnee, will you accompany me...to the daaaannncccceee onnnnn…."Jaune paused for a moment, as he forgot the day the dance was on "SSUUNDAYY!".

"Are you done?" Was the only thing that came out of the heiress's mouth. Jaune sheepishly smiled.

"Yes….."

"No." Weiss said before shutting the door on the Arc again. Weiss turned around to see Ruby and Yang looking at her strangely, Jarryd was still on the floor laughing. "What?"

"And that...is why they call you ice queen." Yang stated, who just scowled.

"All my life, boys have only cared about me because of my last name, besides, I already have a date in mind" The Ice queen replied to the comment, as Jarryd got up, still chuckling.

"L-Let me guess, is it Neptune…" Jarryd managed to get out in between laughs, making the heiress blush.

"M-maybe"

"Well, date or no date, this won't be fun if we can't get Blake to go…" Ruby said with depression in her voice, Jarryd then jumped in, no longer laughing.

"Ruby's right, so...we need a plan…" This cause the rest of the team to nearly fall over.

"Are strategies the only thing you think about now?" Yang said, palm meeting face, Jarryd just put his hand over his head.

"I spend a lot of time thinking about them yes, but i'm not devoted to it, surprisingly enough."

 **Exchange student dorm**

"And lastly Pyrrha Nikos…" said the green haired girl, going off a list from her tablet.

"Ah, the 'invincible girl'..." The girl with black hair responded

 **(A/N: Remember, I haven't introduced the 2 girls names yet!")**

"She thinks she's smart, but I wouldn't say invincible…" Said Mercury, who was reading a comic book.

"Do tell…" Said the black haired woman.

"Her semblance is polarity, but you'd never know just by watching." The green haired girl replied.

"When she made contact with one of the other student's weapons while sparring, she was able to move it around however she wanted, but only made slight adjustments." Mercury added on.

"Enough to make it seem like she's untouchable, she doesn't broadcast her power, so it puts opponents on a disadvantage"

"People assume, she's fated for victory, when in reality, she takes fate into her own hands...interesting, add her to the list…" the black-haired woman said in response, causing the green-haired one to add her to the list.

"You should be able to take her no problem…" Mercury butted in.

"It's not about overpowering the enemy, it's about taking away what power they have, and we will...in time"

"Wait, Miss, I forgot someone" The green-haired girl said, making the other 2 look in confusion.

"Who, exactly, Emerald?" The black haired one said to the now identified Emerald.

"His name is Jarryd Starks milady, Mercury here is a little acquainted with him" Emerald said in response, to which Mercury just scowled.

"That guy, I sparred with him in combat class, he's got a red cutlass, wears a black dress shirt and a red shirt, I never saw any armor, but he doesn't need it. The guy can dodge like a maniac, plus, he and that sword seem like they are talking to each other, he always knows where to strike, with great precision, also, this might worry you Cinder, his semblance is hydrokinesis…" Mercury said to the girl named Cinder. "He might be a problem"

"Ah, yes, we've heard of him, former member of The Red Band that Roman mentioned…" Cinder replied with closed eyes, making Emerald go wide-eyed.

"Wait, HE is the guy that Torchwick fought!" Emerald said in surprise, now knowing that this boy was the one who stopped Roman's plan, almost by himself.

"It seems so...but worry not, he will go down like the rest, add him to the list…" Cinder said before opening her now glowing, orange eyes.

 **Next day - dance preparation**

Weiss, Yang, and Jarryd were all putting up the different decorations for the dance this upcoming saturday, Ruby was sitting at a table, bored out of her mind, when Weiss came over and set 2 sheets in front of her.

"Ok, which tablecloth do you like better?" Weiss asked as she pointed to the sheets with colors on them, that looked like the exact same shade of beige.

"Aren't those the same?" Ruby replied with another question, only making Weiss scowl.

"I don't know what I expected!" She yelled before walking off. Yang then came by and set a large speaker in place, making Ruby and the table bounce, she then walked over to her half-sister.

"So...picked out a dress for the dance yet?" It was now Yang's turn to ask questions, Ruby only looked up in sorrow.

"What's the point, who cares about the dance if Blake isn't going?" Ruby again replied with another question.

"Oh, don't worry, she's going. Plus, don't you want Jarryd to see you in a nice outfit?" Yang responded in a teasing manner, only making Ruby blush. Yang then looked over to see Weiss arguing with Jarryd on how doilies were important to the dance set up.

"If I can't get doilies, then we won't have fog machines!" Weiss yelled at the pirate, who only smirked.

"Wasn't that Yang's idea" He replied, when they suddenly heard a laugh from the doorway. The group turned around to see Neptune and Sun.

"Your dance is gonna have fog machines?" Neptune said, walking towards them. Weiss quickly rushed over to meet him.

"We're thinking about it…"

"That's pretty cool."

"You ladies, and one gentleman all excited for dress up?" Sun asked them in a sarcastic tone.

"Pfft, yeah right" Ruby said, head still on the table.

"Laugh all you want, all of us are gonna be turning heads tomorrow night" Yang responded with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.

"What're you two stooges gonna wear" Jarryd asked them, earning a glare from Weiss. Sun just pointed to what he was wearing now.

"Ignore him, for he knows not of what he says" Neptune said with a hand in front of Sun's face.

"I may have moved to Mistral, but I grew up in Vacuo, it's not exactly a shirt and tie kinda place." Sun defended himself.

"We could tell…" Jarryd replied, pointing at the clothes Sun was wearing.

"So….What does Blake think of this, she still being you know...like Blake?" Sun asked with a shoulder shrug.

"Obviously" Weiss said, slightly annoyed.

"We can't think of a way to change her mind...as much as Jarryd has tried" Ruby gestured towards her boyfriend.

"I'm working on it!" Jarryd said loudly, defending his tactics.

"Guys" Everyone turned to Yang "She'll be there, I just know it"

 **Beacon Library**

Blake had been using the computers in the Beacon Library to find out any info about the White Fang and their antics that weren't already known, when a red dot appeared on the screen, causing Blake's eyes to follow it. The dot went up and down the computer screen, and eventually went to her hand, that was when Blake realized that someone was probably mocking her faunus type. The dot disappeared as Blake searched around for whoever was in control of the shiny red sphere, before she got back to work. The dot then appeared on her hand again, and made it's way back to the screen as it started dancing around, Blake was getting angrier by the second, she slammed her hands down on the table and turned around to hopefully see the culprit, but saw nothing except the dot now in front of her feet. The red dot then started moving, and Blake quickly followed, her baggy eyes followed the sphere as she walked behind it, when it turned a corner. When Blake turned the corner, she saw Yang standing there with a smile, laser pointer in hand.

"What are yo-" Blake tried to get in but was cut off.

"We need to talk" Yang replied and dragged Blake off. They ended up in Professor Oobleck's room, Yang sat on the desk and Blake paced back and forth.

"Yang...if you're gonna try and stop me, don't waste your breathe." Blake said with a small scowl. Yang only just grinned.

"I'm not asking you to stop, i'm asking you to slow down…"

"We don't have the luxury" The black cat replied with a pause in between words.

"It isn't a luxury, but a necessity…" Yang said, still with a small grin, even though her partner was grimacing.

"The necessity is stopping Torchwick…"

"And that's what we'll do…" The two looked to see Jarryd at the entrance to their room "I mean hell, he barely got away the last 2 times, if he's the issue, we barely have anything to worry about, except The White Fang". The pirate said walking over to the 2 "I've faced a lot of naval soldiers and rival pirate captains who are like Torchwick, and one thing i've learned is that they all go down eventually."

"He's right y'know, so sit down and listen to what I have to say…Jarryd, this will also be info you should know..." Yang said, patting the table, gesturing Blake and Jarryd to sit, so they did, Yang continued. "Ruby and I grew up in Patch, a small island off the coast of Vale, our parent's were huntsmen, dad taught at signal and mom would take on missions around the kingdom...Her name was Summer Rose, she was freaking supermom I tell ya...baker of cookies, slayer of giant monsters…." Yang's smile then grew into a frown "Then...one day she left for a mission...and never came back" Blake remained unfazed, but Jarryd's eyes widened, knowing he never had a mother as she dumped him on a doorstep after his birth, and even tried to set out to find her at a young age. The fact that Ruby lost her birth mother nearly tore him apart, he couldn't fathom the pain she had to deal with, he let Yang continue. "Ruby was torn apart, she was a bit too young to understand what was going on...our dad just...broke down, it wasn't long before I learned why, Summer wasn't the first love he lost, she was the second…" Jarryd was nearly in tears, he looked over and nearly scowled at Blake, as she had remained unchanged. "The first...was my mom...he wouldn't tell me anything, but I learned that they had been on a team together with Summer and Qrow, and that she left me with him just after I was born...Nobody's seen her since." Blake now had the tiniest reaction of surprise.

"Why did she leave you?" The faunus asked. Yang only sighed.

"That damn question...Why? I didn't know the answer, but I was determined to find out, it was the only thing I thought about, I asked anybody I could what they knew about her, then one day, I found something. What I thought was a clue that could lead me to answers, or maybe even my mom...So I waited for dad to leave the house, put Ruby in a wagon, and headed out...we must have walked for hours, I had cuts and bruises, and I was exhausted, but I wasn't going to let anything stop me. When we finally got there, I could barely stand...but, I didn't care….but that was when _they_ came. Those burning red eyes….So...there we were, a toddler asleep in the back of a wagon, and girl to exhausted to even cry out...it was like we were served on a silver platter. But our uncle showed up in time...we should be dead if anything…" Yang finished, Blake was speechless, Jarryd just put a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Yang...I'm terribly sorry for what happened, nobody should go through that at such a young age" He whispered in her ear, making her smile and nod. Blake then got up.

"I get what you are saying, but I'm not a child, and this isn't just a search for answers I can't jus-" Blake tried to get in, but was interrupted by an angry sounding Yang.

"I told you...I'm not trying to stop you, I haven't...Till this day, I still want to know what happened to my mother...and why she left...but I can't let that search control me, we will find the answers Blake...but if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?" Yang replied, Blake also got angry.

"You don't get it...I'm the only one who can do this!" Blake yelled, Yang was about to retaliate when a crimson blade chopped the table in between them, they both turned to see Jarryd, with a scowl on his face.

"Blake….I've told somebody else this recently, you may think you can do everything alone, and for most cases, that's true, but not this time…" He said with raspiness in his voice as he put his sword away "Even with groups, people fall, remember Jack, he went down with an entire group backing him up, If you face Torchwick alone, that could happen to you and I'm NOT losing another friend!" He yelled at the cat faunus with tears in his eyes at the memory of Jack's death, making the 2 girls a bit worried, Jarryd then took in a deep breath, calming himself down. "Please Blake...just...take a break..." The pirate basically begged "Not just for yourself, for those who care about you" He finished as he walked out of this room, hands in pockets, leaving the 2 speechless.

"Well...I guess I'd better go as well…" Yang said, as she started to leave the room, before she turned back to Blake "If you do decide to come tomorrow, I'll save you a dance" She said with a wink as she walked off, leaving Blake alone.

 **Beacon Hallway**

Jarryd had been slowly walking back to the dorm room, making long trips around to avoid any of his teammates. He wasn't looking or thinking about where he was going when he ran into Jaune, who had a depressed look on his face.

"Sorry man...why the long face?" Jarryd asked the hooded knight.

"I was gonna ask Weiss to the dance again, but in a better way than last time, but I saw her ask Neptune instead…" Jaune said, looking at the ground, Jarryd sighed and grabbed his shoulder.

"Jaune...first, I don't know why you like her anyways, second, she's not the one for you, think about it, when has she even shown you kindness since you have met?" Jaune was about to retaliate, but thought of nothing "That's what I thought, buddy, the world is a big, **big** place, there is bound to be someone for you here, maybe she's closer than you think…" The buccaneer said, hinting towards Pyrrha, who he knew had wanted to go with Jaune since the dance was announced.

"Yeah...Yeah, Thank's Jarryd" Jaune replied with a smile before walking off. Jarryd finally reached his dorm room, when he went inside, the girls were asleep. Jarryd quickly checked his bag for his suit for tomorrow. He then set the uniform back in the bag and went to sleep.

 **The dance - Next day**

Yang had been getting everything else ready for the night as people had just started arriving at the dance. She was in her dress, which was pretty much a plain dress, when she saw Ruby come out in her attire, a sleeveless black and red dress with a fishnet top.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" Yang screeched, Ruby started stumbling towards her, as she was also wearing black heels.

"Honestly, how does Weiss fight in these?" Ruby said over her stumbles, causing Yang to giggle.

"Jarryd's jaw is honestly gonna drop, oh, there's Blake and Sun!" Yang yelled to the other side of the room, revealing Blake in a dark purple dress, also with a fishnet top, Sun was wearing a different colored shirt. Yang then ran to them to get her first dance, with her teammate, leaving Ruby alone, for a second.

"Waiting on your date as well?" Said Weiss, who was wearing a solid white dress as well, appeared right beside Ruby.

"Yeah, I hope Jarryd gets here soon.." Ruby replied with a slight blush at the name of her boyfriend. Weiss then smirked.

"Yang told me that she was making him do a 'special' entrance…" The heiress told the leader of the team, who was now worried.

"Yep, It's gonna be awesome!" Yang said, who had just finished her dance with Blake and left that up to Sun, they watched the two faunus dance, a smile came to their faces when they actually saw Blake smiling and laughing. That was when a figure came in the room, swinging in from a curtain outside the window, the person let go of the curtain and landed feet first on the ground. The figure turned around to reveal Jarryd in a black suit with a maroon trim, and a little duck-tail on the end of the suit. **(A/N I don't know what those are called XD)** The spiky-haired swordsman then walked up to Ruby and held out his hand.

"Sorry for being so late, may I have this dance?" Jarryd asked his girlfriend, who just covered her mouth at the display she thought was romantic, Weiss just facepalmed and Yang smirked. Ruby then took his hand as he dragged her out onto the dance floor, as the couple started slow dancing like everyone else.

"So...what was with that entrance?" Ruby asked her buccaneer, who just looked at her with a smile.

"Yang said I should 'go back to my roots'" He replied with air quotes as they kept dancing. Jarryd seemed to know exactly how the steps would go, Ruby on the other hand, struggled to even move from side to side, due to her heels.

"Honestly, how do you know this stuff?" She also asked her boyfriend.

"I've had to do this before to distract others when the crew decided to pull off a heist in the middle of a ballroom…" Jarryd answered with a blush "It was kinda embarrassing" Ruby just smiled at his sheepiness.

"Well, you're really good" She said, laying her head on his chest and giving her boyfriend a quick kiss on the lips in the middle of the dance. Jarryd then got an idea.

"Lift yourself up on your toes" Ruby just tilted her head in question, but did as instructed. That was when Jarryd pulled her hand up and started spinning her around slowly, when they got back into regular position, they decided to stop, Ruby did a curtsey, and Jarryd did a quick bow and walked back over to Yang.

"You two seemed like you had fun" Yang said to the two, who were holding each other's hands. Ruby just blushed, and Jarryd smiled, Yang turned to see two students she had invited earlier. "Hey, you guys showed up!"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world…" Mercury replied, Emerald by his side. By this time Jarryd and Ruby walked to the punch bowl to refresh themselves, when Jaune walked over.

"Hey guys, what're you doing over here?" Jaune asked the couple.

"Just getting drinks…" Ruby replied with a smile.

"Jaune...you ok, ya know, about Weiss?" Jarryd said to the blonde boy, who looked down.

"I'm fine, I can tell why she went with Neptune though, not many people can pull off blue hair" Jaune responded, making Jarryd start to chuckle.

"First, you're right about the blue hair thing, second, Weiss is here by herself, didn't you notice…" Jarryd said with a smirk, causing Jaune to nearly spit out the punch he just started gulping down.

"W-W-What!" The usually hooded boy stuttered, as he looked over to see Weiss, tending to flowers on a table. Ruby then chuckled as well.

"Yeah, she said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys…" Ruby told Jaune, who got a smile, then turned to see Neptune, laughing his ass off with Blake and Sun. A frown came to Jaune's face.

"Hold. My. Punch." He said in between words, Jarryd nervously grabbed the glass out of Jaune's hand as the blonde walked over to Neptune.

"This can only end well" The pirate said with rolling eyes, Ruby just looked at him.

"Agreed" They observed Jaune walking over to Neptune, probably to scold him. Then Pyrrha walked on by, wearing a long red dress and black heels, walking up to the balcony, Jaune then followed after her.

"Or….not" Jarryd said with an amused smile as Jaune walked up the stairs. Ruby just giggled.

"10 Lien on 5 minutes before they come back down and start dancing" She said to her boyfriend, he just smirked.

"You're on…" Jarryd agreed. Then they saw Pyrrha walk back down the stairs by herself, Ruby just frowned, Jarryd then held his hand out as she put the Lien she bet into it. They then saw Jaune and Neptune walk down the stairs, Neptune went towards Weiss, and Jaune towards the bathroom, Ruby then had a hopeful smile. Jarryd then chuckled "It's been six minutes" Ruby punched him lightly in the arm, for ruining her hopes that she could get her Lien back. Yang then walked over to the couple again.

"We definitely needed this" The blonde girl said to the 2, who nodded in agreement.

"Great setup by the way Yang" Jarryd added in.

"Thanks bro, Weiss did a lot of work as well….though tomorrow it's back to work…" Yang trailed on, with a bit of irritation in her voice, they all then heard laughing from most everyone in the ballroom. They looked around for the cause of it all, Jarryd then spotted it.

"Holy crap…" The sisters then looked at what Jarryd saw, Jaune in a white dress with a purple bow around it, walking towards Pyrrha.

"Oh my lord…" Ruby and Yang said with a facepalm, Jarryd just was petrified.

"I think I need to Bleach my eyes out…." He started laughing, as Jaune and Pyrrha dragged Pyrrha off to the middle of the dance floor as Ren and Nora came out of nowhere and started dancing to hip-hop music, which just turned on, the 3 watching them only wondered how they got this synchronized right away. "Well….that was a thing" Yang said with a slight smile as she walked away again. Jarryd turned around to see someone running across the rooftops outside the window, The pirate then tapped his leader on the shoulder and pointed to the person.

"What the…" Ruby said with squinted eyes.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out" Jarryd said as he rushed down the stairs and out the door to chase the hidden person, Ruby swiftly followed. They ended up at the building where Weiss went to contact her company. When they arrived, they noticed a cybernetic guard, knocked out behind a bush, the two called their rocket-lockers to get their equipment, the lockers landed near them, opening up to reveal Crescent Rose and Crimson Fury. The couple grabbed their equipment and entered the building, only to see more guards knocked out. "This can't be good…" He stated the obvious as he and Ruby walked towards the elevator at the end of the room. When inside, Jarryd pushed the button to go up to the only other room in the building, the contact room, Ruby readied her scythe as Jarryd pulled out his revolver from underneath his suit. Ruby looked at him with a weird expression "Always be prepared, no matter what" Ruby shrugged of her boyfriends paranoia, as the elevator opened up. The contact room was filled with monitors, all glowing a bright green.

"Hello...anybody there…" Ruby called out into the seemingly empty room, Jarryd knew otherwise though.

"Somebody **is** in here, why would there be monitors turned on and knocked out guards, and no broken windows. Whoever you are, reveal yourself and nobody will get hurt!" Jarryd yelled into the room, as a figure, dressed in black, rose from behind a counter. Jarryd pointed his revolver at the person, who turned around to show long black hair, a feminine figure, and wearing a black mask to conceal the person's identity, with yellow eyes staring at the 2 from behind the mask.

"You know, this isn't a masquerade party, right?" Ruby asked the stranger "So...take off that mask an-" Ruby was going to say before the masked person drew out a stick, summoning crystals, and flinging them towards the young girl. Jarryd acted quickly, slashing all the crystals at the same time, bringing them to the ground, Ruby shifted into sniper mode and shot 3 rounds at the criminal, who blocked the bullets with her hand. Jarryd then slashed at the person, with Crimson Fury, the cutlass was then blocked by another set of blades, the person backflipped and formed a bow, arrows then seemed to appear in the criminal's hands, before being shot at Jarryd, he pulled out his Revolver and shot the 3 arrows out of the air. The person then looked at Ruby and Jarryd, then a 'ding' was heard, coming from the elevator, they turned around to see General Ironwood staring at the scene, Jarryd turned back around to fight the feminine person again, only to see that they weren't there.

"Damn it!" Jarryd yelled to nobody in particular, he then turned around to see Ironwood walking towards Ruby, he then saw one of the monitors show a black chess piece briefly appear on the screen, then disappear again.

 **Next day - Ozpin's office**

"See, they were here!" Ironwood said, with a fist landing on a desk to Professor Ozpin, who was rubbing his eyes in frustration, Glynda, who was at his side, only scowled.

"We are aware of that James" Glynda replied, also in frustration.

"Great, you are aware, just perfect…now are we gonna do something about it or continue to ignore the problem" Ironwood stated. Then, the doorbell to Ozpin's office rang.

"Come in…." Ozpin said, getting up from his desk, the 3 adults turned to see Ruby and Jarryd walk through the door. General Ironwood glared at Jarryd as the swordsman spoke up.

"Sorry we're late, **someone** pushed every single button on the elevator on the way here" The pirate stated, gesturing to his girlfriend, who just elbowed him in the arm. Ozpin started to relax.

"I thank you 2 for coming...how are you both feeling?" Ozpin asked the 2 students, Jarryd just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"About as good as anybody could be in this situation, still sucks we couldn't catch this guy" The buccaneer replied, to which Ruby looked down.

"0 for 3 for me, not a good record" Jarryd was the only one who found the comment funny as he chuckled, the adults just looked at the 2 with blank expressions "So, that's the mood we are going for…" General Ironwood then approached the young leader.

"Ruby, I think it's important to let you know that I think what you did is exactly what being a huntress is all about, you recognized a threat, and took action, and you did the best you could" Ironwood said, making everyone in the room smile, the general then turned to Jarryd with a turned look "And you, Mr. Starks, I still don't trust you, I know about your involvement with The Red Band, fighting the navy that my forces control…" Jarryd got wide eyed for a moment for 2 reasons. 1, The man in front of him, holding his girlfriend, was in mostly in charge of the group that has fought his 'family' for so long, 2, that he knew of his place with the band of pirates in the first place. Ironwood then continued with what he was saying "But since you have used your skills to protect Vale and Remnant itself, I thank you…I hope that you continue your studies and become a huntsman and stop running around with that group of yours." Ironwood finished, still with resentment in his voice. Jarryd just smiled.

"No promises sir" He said, putting his hand in a salute formation. Ozpin cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him.

"Now, the general here has just informed us of what happened last night" Ozpin sighed after his statement, and continued "but now that you both are rested, we were wondering if there was anything you could add to the story…" Glynda stepped forward.

"Was anyone with them, did they look familiar to you two?" Professor Goodwitch asked, Ruby was about to say something when Jarryd mentioned her to let him answer, since he bothered to take in the info.

"Nobody was with them in the room, but since they decided to do it during the dance, they might have had an informant for when the party was in full swing, so they could enter the building undetected." The brunette pirate told the group, Glynda was jotting down the information in a small sketchbook "And for appearance, I could tell they had long black hair, they were wearing a bodysuit and mask. Through the mask, I could only see their eyes, which seemed like an amber color, and it was a tight bodysuit, that lit up when she attacked, showing a feminine figure, meaning our culprit is most likely female...she also seemed to fight with glass shards, didn't seem like a semblance though, she could summon 2 blades out of thin air, which could mend together to form a bow, with arrows to match...does that help any." Jarryd finished his description, leaving the 3 adults, intrigued. Ruby was just shocked at how much her boyfriend was able to take in from the lone minute the encounter took place.

"A lot, Mr. Starks, thank you for telling us" Ozpin said with a smile, Glynda was holding her chin, thinking about a certain fact that the young swordsman said.

"Except from the glass... sounds a bit like the woman I fought the night I ment Ruby…" Glynda said, Ironwood then stepped forward.

"And embedding dust into clothing is an age old technique, could have been anyone" James added on. Ruby's eyes then widened.

"Wait!" All eyes turned to the young girl "do you think that this girl is connected to Torchwick and the White Fang?" Ruby said with shock. Ozpin also decided to rub his chin.

"A definite possibility"

"But their isn't enough evidence to put the 2 together yet, though from what I've seen from the white fang, they'll try anything." Jarryd stated to the group, as Ruby's face suddenly scrunched up.

"Actually, I think she said something about a hideout in the southeast, just outside the kingdom. Jarryd was confused, as he never heard the woman say anything.

"Um...I don't recall that…" Her boyfriend said to her.

"Thank you 2 for your cooperation...why don't you spend some time with your team, you have a big day ahead of you all…" Ozpin told the couple "And you 2, please be discreet about this matter…"

"Yes sir…" Jarryd said, still confused about the info given to the headmaster by his girlfriend as they left the room. While walking back to the dorm, Jarryd was still pondering what just happened in his head 'She said that that woman told her something about a hideout, I never heard that...just what in the blue hell is going on!' He then turned to Ruby to ask the same question "Ruby, when exactly did the person say something about a hideout?" Ruby just turned to Jarryd with a blank expression.

"I-I don't remember, all I can say is that I remember her saying that…" She replied, not really answering Jarryd's question, he wanted to talk about it more, but they reached the dorm room. Ruby opened the door for the couple to see, the other 3 girls chit-chatting, when the other team members spotted the 2, they quickly rushed towards the door, right to their faces

"So...What happened!?" Yang basically yelled, Ruby started to stutter, trying to come up with a cover up story, but gave up and told the team everything that went on, from the actual crime, to the office conversation, except Ruby's hideout comment.

"That was a risky move" Weiss nearly scolded the couple, Blake just looked up from her book.

"I think that was a smart choice"

"I hope so…" Ruby said with a downcast face.

"I'm sure everything will be ok, I know what will cheer you up!" Yang then started to walk to the other side of the room, grabbing a package.

"What's in there, if you don't mind my asking?" Jarryd asked the blonde who just shrugged her shoulders.

"I Dunno, our dad sent it, I thought we could open it together" Yang answered as Ruby just squealed.

"Something from home!" The young girl yelled before running off to try and grab the package out of her sister's hand, who just held it out of reach of the short leader. Then, the cylindrical roll slid out of the package and fell to the floor, the roll then started moving around and making little noises.

"Did he send something alive through the mail?!" Jarryd nearly yelled as he check for air holes on the roll, but saw fur on it. That was when the roll popped up and showed a small little dog with black and white fur, and pointy ears, it popped up and started to lick Jarryd's face, and jump around frantically. The girls looked the display, the only ones who knew what was going on was Yang and Ruby, who had big grins on their faces until Ruby lept into the air.

"Zwei!" The young girl yelled, only to have confused looks on Weiss, Blake and Jarryd's face, which was still being licked by the puppy.

"He sent a dog!?" Blake basically yelled, since she was still a cat faunus, meaning she and dogs never got along very well. The dog, now known as Zwei, jumped into Ruby's arms, to which Ruby started rubbing the puppy on the stomach.

"Oh, he does stuff like this all the time…" Yang reassured the group, to which Jarryd had a cocked eyebrow.

"Your dad, or Zwei?" Jarryd asked, to which he got no answer. Weiss then approached the dog.

"Are you telling me this mangy, drooling…" Weiss's frown then turned into a smile as Zwei looked happily at the heiress "wittle mutt is gonna wiv with us forevow, oh yes he is, yes he is" The team, minus Blake, chuckled at the scene before them. That was when the loudspeakers came on.

"Would all first-year students please report to the ampitheatre" The voice of Glynda Goodwitch said. Jarryd then looked to Zwei.

"What are we gonna do about him, we can't leave him here while we are gone, right?" The pirate asked, also receiving no answer, until Yang pulled out a note from the box Zwei came in.

"Dear girls, I'm leaving the Island for a while, so i'm sending Zwei to you to take care of, enclosed inside is all the food you should need, love you both, Tai Yang" Yang read off the notecard left by her father as a bunch of cans inside the box spilled out onto the floor. "Well girls and guy, let's go, Zwei will be here when we get back." The blonde finished, as the Weiss, Blake and Jarryd walked after her, Ruby was left looking at Zwei on top of the food can pile, when suddenly she got an idea.

 **Amphitheatre**

Team RWBY lined up next to Team JNPR as Ruby set her only bag down. Professor Goodwitch then walked up to the stage and started speaking.

"Student's, be quiet, Professor Ozpin would like to say a few words before we begin" Glynda then walked off the stage as Ozpin took center stage.

"Today we stand together, united….Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale...the 4 kingdoms of remnant, this day, 80 years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, greed, and oppression...a war much more than where borders fell and who traded with whom, but the very idea of individualism itself...we fought for many reasons, one of which, the abolishment of all art or self-expression" Ozpin said with a small downcast look, then he continued "and as you are well aware, that was something many could not stand for, as a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children began naming their children after one of the core aspects of art itself: Color...It was not only a way to demonstrate that they refuse to tolerate the oppression, but neither would the other generations that would follow, and it was a trend that has held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity, through diversity" Almost every person in the room was smiling at the inspirational speech "As I have said, today we stand together as one, but these bonds can't exist without effort. Which is why today, while the rest of the world celebrates peace, Huntsman and Huntresses of the world will work to keep sed peace...as first year students, you'll be tasked with shadowing a professional Huntsman or Huntress on a mission, some of you will be taken out of the kingdom for a few days,others may work within the walls for the entire week, but no matter which path you choose...remember to be safe, remember your training and do your very best." Ozpin finished as he left the stage, earning applause from teams from every kingdom. Team RWBY then had a little pow-wow.

"Alright, so we just have a huntsman working in the southeast" Ruby said, excited to go on with their investigation. Yang then excitedly moved forwards.

"Yes! We'll follow them around by day and give them the slip at night" Yang added on, fist in the air.

"Let's check the search and destroy column" Weiss suggested, to which the team nodded and went over to check the list of jobs, Jarryd saw one spot open.

"Right here, Quadrant 5 needs a bunch of Grimm cleared out, sound good?" Jarryd asked the girls.

"Well, it's in the southeast…" Blake stated.

"Perfect!" Yang nearly yelled. Jarryd then tapped the job on the touchscreen and put in their team name, only for the screen to say a few words.

"MISSION UNAVAILABLE TO FIRST YEAR STUDENTS"

"Well...ain't that just great, any of you got a brilliant idea, cause surprisingly...I got nothing" The pirate said with his head hanging low.

"How about we mail ourselves there!" Ruby suggested, earning a facepalm from Weiss.

"That's one option" The team turned around to see Ozpin himself going down the stairs "Unfortunately, we determined that the concentration of Grimm was to extreme for first years, it seems that particular reason is a bit popular." The team's eyes widened "In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that the 4 of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose." The headmaster finished, Ruby was trying to keep a faux grin on.

"What makes you say that, sir?" The leader of the team asked Ozpin, who just surveyed the group.

"I'm still perplexed at how you 5 found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a 'hideout' in the southeast, and I certainly wonder why witnesses reported seeing robots, and rose petals in a dance club some time ago" Ruby was trying to come up with an excuse, Jarryd was trying to stare down with the professor, who just grinned "I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for, so how 'bout this, instead of waiting for you to break the rules, why don't we just bend them" Ozpin then tapped his scroll a few times, and the monitor holding the search and destroy job started beeping, meaning they had been registered for the job. The team looked to Professor Ozpin.

"Thanks Professor, we won't let you down…" Jarryd said with a salute. Ozpin just smiled and shook his head.

"Don't thank me, teamwork and persistence have carried you far, though understand this, the things that await you beyond the kingdom's protection will not care, stay close to the huntsman at all times, and do exactly as he says, he will lead you and **can** send you back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory" With that, Ozpin left, leaving the 4 girls with nervous looks, but Jarryd with a smirk.

"He does know who he's talking to, right!" He turned around to see the girls looking at him, still with the same expression "Right?"

ANNNDD DONE!

Wow, a lot longer than I thought...as usual…

So anyway, i'm gonna tell you my plans for the upcoming chapters.

1\. The entire next chapter will be based on the end of Volume 2.

3 will go a bit differently than the actual story.

3\. The final battle will be with a gigantic group of characters from throughout the storyline, fighting with Jarryd.

And that's really it...CYA NEXT TIME


	8. Chapter 8

**Whats up everyone.**

 **Ok, quick question, I've seen multiple other fic's do the Vytal Tournament in different ways, my favorites being between having it all be single rounds like an actual tournament, or first a team round, a double round, than 2 singles, I am kinda leaning towards the first one, since I want to pull away from canon, but i don't know...help me on that pls….and I have my first review question!**

 _Guest: Thank you! And Mercury was there when Pyrrha fought team CRDL, so he still saw her polarity semblance, hope that clears it up!_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or any of the characters, though I freakin wish I did.**

 **LETS GET ON WITH IT!**

 **Beacon courtyard.**

After the lecture from Professor Ozpin, Team RWBY decided to head to the location to meet their assigned huntsman, Yang then looked at the other 4 team members.

"That wasn't exactly uplifting…" Yang said with a blank look.

"Well...it's the truth…" Blake added on.

"Whatever, thinking about that will only make us lose focus on the task at hand…" Jarryd stated, earning a nod from the 4 girls. Then, a random student nearly ran over the pirate, and yelled something.

"Hey, Team CFVY's back!" The student yelled, running towards a crowd, the team then looked to see 4 other students in their battle ready outfits, walking in a line, the team of 5 rushed up to greet the team back to Beacon. Blake and Weiss rushed up to meet Velvet Scarlatina, a member of Team CFVY and the rabbit eared faunus that Cardin was picking on last semester, who was wearing her brown and gold battle gear. The two teams talked every once in awhile, but team CFVY had been gone on a mission for the past week.

"Velvet, are you okay!?" Blake asked with a worried expression, since her friend had been gone for so long, Velvet just smiled.

"I'm fine, Yatsuhashi was looking out for me…" The rabbit faunus answered, gesturing towards her teammate.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago, what happened?" Weiss asked, with the same amount of worry Blake had. Velvet looked at the five, who were eagerly waiting for an answer.

"Nothing happened….It's just...there were so many of them…" She finished with her head towards the ground.

"At least you're ok...that's all that matters" Jarryd stated, earning a smile from Velvet.

"That's true, but don't worry, you first-year students are just shadowing huntsmen, you all should be fine…I should go, be safe ok…" The second-year student said before walking off with the rest of her team. Yang, Weiss, and Blake all had worried looks, thinking about their mission.

"It's alright" The 3 girls turned to Ruby, who said the words "We've never backed down before, and we won't start now!" Ruby told the worried girls, earning a smile from Jarryd and Yang, who just nodded their heads "Besides, we're fighting alongside a genuine huntsman!" All three girls then had smiles on their faces, except Jarryd, who looked like he was mortified. Ruby just laughed at his expression "What's up Jarryd, you look like you've seen a ghost" The statement made the other 3 laugh.

"I just found out who this 'genuine huntsman' we are shadowing is…" The buccaneer said, pointing ahead of him. The girls turned to where their male teammate was looking, only to have the same expression he did.

"Oh, hey girls...and boy…" Said Professor/Doctor Oobleck as he like to be called, was walking towards them, away from an airship, wearing clothes you'd see from someone on a safari "Who's ready to fight for their lives?!" Team RWBY was still in shock from the fact that their history teacher was their 'professional' huntsman, whom they were supposed to shadow.

"Professor Oobleck!?" Weiss nearly yelled, as the Professor paced back and forth between the team.

"Yes, I'm afraid those bags won't be necessary, seeing as you've opted to shadow a huntsman on was is now essentially a reconnaissance mission, I can assure you we will not be establishing a single base of operations, rather we will be traversing several miles of hazardous wasteland, and making camp at any defendable locations we may stumbleupon, I've packed all of our essential supplies, and readied the airship, and! It's Doctor Oobleck, I didn't earn a PhD for fun, thank you very much!" The Doctor finished in his usual hyper tone, talking at a mile per minute. The team was still lost at how their teacher could talk that fast, just from drinking coffee "Come now children, according to my schedule, we are already three minutes behind schedule" Oobleck finished, before zipping off to the airship.

"Look's like we are saving the world with Doctor Oobleck-okay yeah when you say it out loud it sounds worse…" Ruby said, bringing her head down, when they heard a gasp from behind them.

"Save the world! You're going on world saving missions without us" RWBY turned around to see Team JNPR, with Nora being the one who said the words "I'm hurt, sad, maybe a little hungry...That last one's not your fault though...Ren" The hyperactive girl finished, with an accusing finger towards Ren.

"Sounds exciting, where ya goin?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, um...Just outside the kingdom…" Ruby said, trying to cover up their plans.

"Hey, so are we!" Nora replied, still with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Ren and Nora wanted to shadow the sheriff of a nearby village" Pyrrha added on.

"We set out tomorrow…" Ren got in, before 2 male figures jumped between them, revealing Neptune and Sun.

"Then you can party with us tonight, we're shadowing crime specialists, inner city detective stuff. We get junior badges" Neptune said, making Jaune go wide-eyed at the mention of a badge.

"We normally go to the city with you guys, but stuff's always exploding and stuff like that, so we thought this might be a better way to check out the kingdom when it's...well, normal"

"That's great, but we really should be go-" Jarryd tried to get in, but was cut off by a yell from Doctor Oobleck.

"Four minutes behind you 5!" The teacher yelled, making the other teams look at RWBY with weird looks and smiles.

"Well… that's our cue, I think" The pirate told the other 2 teams, making them all separate in different directions. Team RWBY then got into the airship with the apparent huntsman, which took off nearly right away for their destination.

"I gotta admit Doctor, I never saw you as much of a fighter!" Yang yelled over the loud noise the ship was making.

"Well, I fancy myself as more of a….how you say...intellectual, but I can assure you, as a huntsman, I've had my fair share of tussles." The teacher said, making Ruby confused.

"Like the mushroom?" Ruby asked, to which Yang and Jarryd, who were right beside her, chuckled.

"Those are truffles, sis" Yang answered her sister.

"Like the sprout?"

"Those are brussels, Ruby" The pirate answered his girlfriend, who was still scratching her head. Doctor Oobleck then continued.

"Besides! I given my expertise in the field of history as well as my dabblings in the archeological surveys, our dear headmaster saw it was fit to assign me to this particular assignment!" The teacher finished, with the same dignified expression Weiss usually has, except he was actually smiling.

"Pardon my asking Doctor Oobleck, but what does history have to do with taking out a bunch of Grimm" Jarryd then asked him.

"Why, what a preposterous question you silly boy! Why, history is the backbone of our very society! And the Liver! Probably the kidneys if I were to wager…" Oobleck answered, still not answering Jarryd's question.

"Which means what exactly…?" Weiss added onto Jarryd's original question.

"The southeast quadrant of Vale is made up of wild forests and deep caves, But! It is also the location to one of the kingdom's greatest failures." The teacher answered so fast, they could barely understand him, Ruby then realized what he was talking about.

"Mountain Glenn…"

"Yeah, wasn't that made an extension of Vale?" Yang added on to her sister's comment.

"Yes, but it was overrun by the creatures of Grimm, eventually being fenced off from the rest of the city" Jarryd answered.

"Correct! And now it stands abandoned, it serves as a dark reminder" Oobleck said.

"And a likely hideout…" Blake added on.

"Precisely!" Dr. Oobleck replied, as they neared their destination, which looked like a run down city. Once the airship neared landing, The team jumped out of the ship, weapons at the ready, not knowing if there were any enemies around, Dr. Oobleck jumped out of the ship as well, but held another cup of coffee in his hand and started drinking from it. The team observed the area, noticing broken down restaurants, parking garages, and tumbleweeds rolling across the ground "Ladies and gentleman, you may be students, but at this moment your first mission as huntsman and huntresses had begun. From this point forward, you need to do exactly as I say. Do you understand?" The doctor yelled, as the team nodded at the professor, Oobleck then noticed a bag on Ruby's back "Ruby!" He yelled at the girl, making her jump "I thought I told you to leave all bags at the school…" Ruby then tried to search for an answer.

"But, you told us not to listen to you yet, so I didn't" The team just facepalmed at their leaders excuse. But Jarryd face faulted when he heard the doctor's reply.

"She's not wrong, very well Ruby leave your bag here, we can pick it up upon our return" Oobleck told her, as Ruby just stuttered to find an answer "Young lady, what in the world could you possibly have in that bag that could be so important to bring wi-" As Doctor Oobleck was saying this, a tiny head popped out of Ruby's bag, revealing Zwei, the team just went wide-eyed as Ruby whispered to Zwei.

"Get back in the bag…" But Zwei just barked in response.

"We're here to investigate an abandoned, urban jungle teeming with death and hostility, and you brought...a dog…" The green haired teacher nearly scolded, as Ruby tried to search for another excuse, when a smile came to the doctor's face "GENIUS!" He yelled as he grabbed Zwei out of the bag and started twirling him around "Canines are historically known for their perceptive noses and heightened sense of sound, making them excellent companions for hunts such as ours!" He finished as Zwei just kept barking in excitement, Ruby just smiled.

"I'm a genius…" Ruby said proudly, as her teammates just facepalmed again.

"So, what's our orders sir…?" Jarryd then asked, just wanting to get on with the mission.

"Straight to the chase I see, I like it!" Oobleck yelled, as he dropped Zwei to the ground "As you have been informed, the southeastern part of Vale is a hotspot for Grimm activity, now there are several possible explanations for this behavior, one of which being...Grimm" He said to the team, leaving them confused.

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked.

"Grimm, a creature of Grimm, approximately 100 yards from us at this very moment…" The teacher replied calmly, as the team started to worry and turned around to see a Beowolf coming from around a street corner, it hadn't spotted them yet. The team pulled out their weapons "Stop!" Oobleck quietly yelled, making the team turn to him "There is a good reason why Grimm would congregate to this particular area, most likely of which being their attraction to negativity, sadness, envy, loneliness, hatred...all qualities that are held by our hidden group harboring ill intent" He finished as the team looked to eachother.

"So...what now?" Ruby asked again.

"We wait, we track. If this specimen leads us to it's pack, that pack may lead us to our prey." The doctor answered.

"How long should we wait." Jarryd then asked.

"Hours, days, weeks, all possibilities, lone Grimm are known to isolate from their pack for months and…..theres the whole pack" The teacher answered as more Grimm came from around the corner.

"Well...that was easy…" Jarryd said with a small smile

"What!" Weiss yelled as one of the Beowolves eventually spotted them

"And, they've spotted us…"

"What!" Weiss nearly yelled again.

"AND NOW THEY'VE SEEN US!" The doctor yelled in the heiress's ear, making the other Beowolves look in their direction.

"I guess tracking is out of the question?" Ruby asked with a slight cringe.

"That would be an accurate assumption, yes." The doctor replied with the same expression he had the entire time. 3 Beowolves rushed towards the team.

"Crap, we've don't have much time, Doctor Oobleck, your orders?" The pirate then asked the huntsman, who just had a small smile as the rest of the Beowolf pack followed the original 3.

"Show me what you are capable of…" The green haired teacher replied, to which the team readied their weapons and Zwei covered himself and his behind Ruby, Yang rushed forward at a lone Grimm coming her way. As the Beowolf got closer, Yang drew back her fist, and punched the Grimm so hard, it died immediately. 3 Beowolves turned their attention to Blake, who was just standing alone in the middle of the road, when 1 of the creatures swiped, Blake used her semblance and replaced herself with a shadow clone, and slashed at the Grimm from above, cutting it in half, another Beowolf quickly charged the cat faunus, who ducked below the next swipe, and made this beast meet the same fate as the last, splitting it in 2. Another patch of Beowolves were chasing Weiss down an alleyway, the heiress jumped into the air, making one Beowolf leap after her, she then slashed the beast 3 times, in the shoulder, arm, and leg, killing it. When Weiss landed she used a glyph to charge at the other remaining Grimm, Weiss then turned in mid-charge, making her rapier slash the remaining creatures at the same time, killing each one. Ruby was also fighting off her own section of the hoard, firing multiple high-calibre sniper rounds at the line of creatures running towards her, Ruby then used her speed to charge at a lone Grimm that wasn't hit by the bullets, when the two collided, the Beowolf was sliced clean in half. Jarryd was tasked with fighting one of the bigger groups, because of a plan her came up with, after running along the edge of the city moat, nailing every Beowolf that tried to cut him off with either a quick slice from his cutlass or a headshot from his revolver. When Jarryd arrived at his location, which was right on the edge of town, nearing a river, he stopped in his tracks, allowing the remaining Grimm to surround him, the pirate smirked as he brought his hand up, making almost every single drop of water rise up from the river, he then thrusted his hand forward, making water jet into each Beowolf, flooding the street and killing each Grimm in the street, except one that was struggling to get up when the water disappeared, Jarryd walked up to the suffering creature, unholstered Venom, and shot it in the head, killing the beast in an instant. He turned around to see the team regrouping with Dr. Oobleck, when he got to the group, he looked to their teacher.

"Was that it, that wasn't much of a challenge…" Jarryd said with a cocky smirk, the doctor only looked at him with a blank look.

"Don't celebrate yet, for I'm certain this is the first bout of many, shall we continue?" The professor asked the team, who just shrugged in response. The team then ran through the rest of the city, dispatching Grimm one-by-one, this continued for almost 2 hours, leaving the team exhausted, Oobleck just smiled "Excellent work you all" He then looked around, dead Beowolf corpses dissolving around him "Though, no sign of criminal activity in this sector, oh well, moving on!" He said, walking between two run down building, Team RWBY hesitantly go up and followed their teacher, when Yang spoke up.

"Y'know doc, I was actually looking forward to seeing a pro huntsman in action, like fighting or at least helping us fight." Yang accused the older man, who just turned his head around.

"Why I am in action, scouring the ruins of this once great city for any signs of irregularity!" He then fully turned around "Not every mission is filled with daring and heroism, you 5, sometimes it's just a heightened form of examination, remember, this is a job that you all signed up for!" He yelled in response to the blonde, Jarryd just sighed.

"We're figuring that out the hard way" Jarryd said exhaustedly as the team carried on, killing more Grimm hoards, and traversing the ruins of the city, when Oobleck spoke up again.

"Tell me, Yang, why did you choose this profession?" The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow towards the brawler.

"Well...uh...to fight monsters and save th-" She tried to reply, but the teacher just waved his arms.

"No No No, that's what you do, I want to know **why** you do it…" Yang just looked up to the doctor.

"You want the honest reason?" She asked the professor, who just nodded "I'm a thrill-seeker, I want to travel around the world and get into as many crazy adventures as I can, and if I can help people while I do so, then that's even better, win-win ya know?" The professor just nodded his head, and started writing in his journal.

"I see...and you Miss Schnee!? A girl born into fame and fortune such as yourself certainly doesn't need the extra work, so...why choose this over a safe job in Atlas?" He asked, turning to Weiss, who just stabbed a Beowolf that ran towards them.

"Exactly as you said, I'm a Schnee, I have a legacy of honor to uphold. Once I realized I was capable of fighting, there was no longer a question of what I wanted to do with my life, It was my duty" Weiss answered the doctor, who just nodded his head.

"Interesting….and what about you Blake?" Oobleck again asked, this time to Blake, who had just cleared out a cloud of small bird Grimm "You seem to carry yourself with a sense of purpose"

"There's too much wrong with the world to just stand by and do nothing. Inequality, corruption...someone has to stop it." Blake answered with a scowl.

"Really, how?" The professor asked again, making Blake look to the ground, not able to think of an answer, Oobleck just hummed and left her alone, as he approached Ruby, who was playing with Zwei by holding a piece of meat up from the end of her scythe. Ruby then noticed the doctor and quickly put her scythe away.

"Oh! Sorry! Are we ready to keep going?" The young girl asked him.

"No, that will do for today. It will be getting dark soon" He said, laying down the supplies to set up camp, as the entire team approached "You 4, set up camp in that building right there, and make sure there are no more of those...creatures, your leader and I are going to secure the perimeter. Come Ruby!" The teacher said, walking off with Ruby and Zwei, leaving a worried Weiss, Blake, and Yang, and a confused Jarryd. The 3 girls and one boy started to get the camp set up, the girls taking care of the tents, one for the girls, the other for Oobleck and Jarryd, Jarryd was in charge of starting a fire. When Jarryd got a flame going, he added fuel so it could be maintained for a bit, he then turned to the girls, who were struggling with the tent.

"What was up with you 3 when Dr. Oobleck went to secure the perimeter with Ruby?" He asked the girls, Yang was the only one who looked to him and answered.

"He asked us why we chose to become huntresses, and we gave him an honest answer, but he pretty much shut the reasons down, so we're worried what he's going to say to Ruby, because she was only asked to join Beacon because of Ozpin." Yang answered, Jarryd understood, as he was told the story in his first week at Beacon. Though he had one more question.

"He never asked me that, what's up with that?"

"Maybe he's just waiting for a bit later" Blake answered this time, who was struggling with the tent.

"Ahh...ok" He answered, Yang then looked back to him.

"Jarryd, we've been meaning to ask you, why did you come to Beacon?" Jarryd was surprised at the question. He quickly told the girls the story of the day Ozpin came to the ship, leaving them in awe at the surprisingly simple story of how he was told his home was to dangerous without training. That was when Oobleck and Ruby zipped into the room.

"AH, a textbook campfire!" Oobleck yelled when he saw the makeshift fire "Well done, Jarryd!" He said to the pirate, who just shrugged in response, Ruby then rushed close.

"Fire!" She kneeled at the fire, close to Jarryd "So warm, thank Jarryd!" She said to her boyfriend, who just got a bear hug in thanks. Professor Oobleck than ran up to the group.

"Very good, finish setting up the tents, eat your dinners, and head to bed, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow, and will need you to take turns keeping watch over our temporary abode, any volunteers for first watch?" The doctor asked, to which Jarryd raised his hand. About 2 hours later, the tents were set up, everyone had eaten, and everyone had gone to bed, except Jarryd who was still on watch, when he heard footsteps approach from behind. Jarryd unsheathed Crimson Fury and turned around, ready to attack, only to see Dr. Oobleck, looking at him with a smile "Always vigilant, I see…" He said as Jarryd quickly sheathed his sword.

"Sir, what are you doing out here…?" Jarryd asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted to check up on you...and ask you something…" The teacher answered, to which the pirate knew where this was going.

"You want to ask me why I want to be a huntsman...is that right?"

"Your teammates must have told you about that, yes, yes I do...so why?" Jarryd then looked down with a smile.

"To be honest doctor, at first, I wasn't going to attend Beacon, but a certain circumstance drew me from my home to Beacon, It was too dangerous where I live, fighting everyday of your life, so why I'm at Beacon….I want to be ready for anything the world throws at me, simple as that…and now, I'm happy I chose to join" He answered the teacher, who looked at the pirate with a smile.

"I see….The life of a pirate is that much of a hussel I see…" Oobleck answered, surprising Jarryd.

"Who told you?" The swordsman asked with a small laugh.

"Ozpin, who else my dear boy!?" The doctor yelled with the same enthusiasm as always as he sat beside the younger boy "So tell me Mr. Starks, what exciting things do you discover on your travels across the seas, lost treasure, native ruins,sunken ships telling untold stories, oh it must be very exciting!" Jarryd just laughed at the professor's eagerness to know about his adventures.

"They pop up every once in awhile, and yes, it's very exciting to see what other people have left behind for us to discover." Jarryd said, looking at the stars above, the doctor just raised his hands up in victory.

"Exactly! Finally someone understands!" The professor then started shaking Jarryd's hand rapidly, he let go and started walking back to their tent "That will be enough watch for tonight, come on in and get some rest, boy" With that Jarryd got up and went inside Oobleck's and his tent, though he heard a bit of talking from the girls tent, to which he chuckled at the fact that his team was still up. Later in the night, Jarryd had to go to the bathroom, so he got out of bed, grabbed his revolver and scroll to make sure if anybody contacted him, he would answer, and went out to do his business, as he was heading back to the tent, a small black blur could be seen running out of the building. Jarryd recognized the blur as Zwei and went to chase after the dog. When he found Zwei, the pup was also letting nature take it's course, but on a steel beam, he then laughed.

"Zwei, you could have done that anywhere, this is a wasteland after all" Jarryd said walking into the streets, Zwei then ran into his arms and barked, only to have an unknown voice speak.

"Hey, did you hear that?" The voice said, to which Jarryd picked up Zwei and ran around the corner, he then looked to see where the voice came from as he heard another voice jump in.

"Hear what? There's nothing out here." The new voice added, Jarryd turned around to see the least pleasant sight of the day, 2 soldiers in White Fang uniforms.

"I don't know, I thought I heard a Beowolf or something…" The first goon replied to the other. Jarryd pulled out his revolver just in case he was spotted, Zwei was about to bark again, but muffled the noise in his shirt.

"Whatever, let's just get back to patrol, this place gives me the creeps…" The second soldier said as they walked off. Jarryd set Zwei down and whispered to him.

"Be quiet…" To which Zwei actually nodded, Jarryd then slowly walked to other corners to hide behind, while at the same time keeping up with the 2 soldiers and aiming Venom at their heads in case he was spotted, Zwei quietly followed. When Jarryd and Zwei got to the corner of the last building on the street, Jarryd turned the corner to see the White Fang members enter a building at the end of the street, and saw them close the door. The buccaneer opened up his scroll to call the girls, but nobody answered "Damn it...come on Zwei, lets get the girls" Jarryd said as he lead the dog towards their camp, but when they entered the middle of the street, the concrete cracked under them. Then the concrete caved in, making Jarryd and Zwei fall, but Jarryd grabbed onto a remaining piece of the street, and caught Zwei by the paw, leaving the 2 hanging. Jarryd then threw Zwei over his head, bringing him back to the surface, Jarryd then tried to climb up, but they concrete he was holding started cracking as well, he then looked to Zwei who had a face of confusion "Zwei! Get the others!" Was all Jarryd could yell before the concrete fell into the hole, bringing Jarryd with it, Jarryd looked up to see Zwei looking at him, before everything went black.

Jarryd woke up a minute later, quickly got up and rubbed his head. "Did anybody get the name of that tru- what in the world…" He said in awe as he opened his eyes and saw underground ruins of the city, when he heard footsteps, Jarryd turned around to see the 2 soldiers from before, who were probably attracted by the noise that was made when he fell.

"Freeze! Stop where you are!" Jarryd put his hands up in defense and tried to think of a solution.

"Now, fella's, I don't want any trouble, you see, the street caved in and I obviously fell down here, so if I can just head back up and go, I won't tell anyone about this" He lied, knowing he'd probably tell his entire team. The guards just aimed their rifles at him.

"Turn around!" One of them ordered, to which Jarryd obeyed, who was then met with the but end of one of the rifles to the back of the head, making his vision go black.

"The boss is gonna want to see this guy.." The other goon said before Jarryd's consciousness slipped away. When Jarryd woke up, he saw the arms of the two guards from before dragging him across the ground, and he also heard yelling between others, when he looked around, he saw other White Fang soldiers and some machines lifting cargo, he then saw 2 other soldiers lifting a chrome device into a train car, when the words one of them said caught his attention.

"What're you trying to do, blow us to the moon?" Jarryd realized the chrome device was a bomb. Then, the 2 dragging him stopped.

"Hey boss, we found something you might want to see…" One of them yelled, when another familiar voice answered.

"Is it good or bad Perry, because let me tell ya, I had quite the day" The voice answered, Jarryd then recognized the voice.

'Oh crap! Is that who I think it is' He thought, when the other guard spoke up.

"Um..it's a teenage boy?" Then, a figure looked out from a train car to see who Jarryd was.

'Yep, it's him' Jarryd thought again, when he saw Roman Torchwick looking at his back.

"That would be bad…" Roman replied as they turned Jarryd around, Torchwick's face then lit up into a smile "Well well well, looky here, our favorite pirate." Torchwick said as he jumped in front of Jarryd making the 2 guards back up.

"Well well well, If it isn't everyone's favorite douchebag" Jarryd replied with a smirk, that was immediately kicked in the face by Roman, Jarryd quickly got up right away, and aimed his revolver at Torchwick who aimed his cane at Jarryd, the two guards pulled out their rifles, but Torchwick motioned for them to lower the guns. The two then started to circle each other "Quite a setup you've got here Roman…" Jarryd said, still aiming at Torchwick's head.

"Thank you, I do dabble a bit in interior design, but that begs the question, how did you find this place, matey?" Roman asked with a smirk.

"And why should I give you the satisfaction of knowing?" Jarryd answered with another question, and the exact same smirk that Roman had. When an explosion came from a broken down building behind Jarryd, Torchwick just scowled.

"Ah great...Perry, can you and the boys take care of that for me?, I'm obviously in the middle of something…" Torchwick ordered the guards, when another explosion was heard from above "Just what is going on here!?" Roman yelled in frustration, when another explosion was heard from the building as White Fang soldiers ran in terror. Then from around the corner, Jarryd and Roman saw 7 multicolored figures running towards them. Jarryd smirked and looked to Torchwick, who was just distracted by the new figures, who Jarryd figured out was his team and Dr. Oobleck, Jarryd took the opportunity and fired at Torchwick, who noticed, and dodged at the last second. Jarryd then took the opening and started running back to his team "Somebody KILL HIM!" Torchwick yelled, who regained his balance as other soldiers ran to his side and started to unload in Jarryd's direction. Jarryd turned his head around and saw the bullets flying at him, he started to twist and turn to avoid the gunfire, he then saw Torchwick turn around and say something to another soldier, who then got his cane pointed at his chin. Jarryd turned around to see the same group of guards from before aiming rifles at him, Jarryd was about to pull out his revolver when the group was blasted back from an explosion of fire, when the smoke cleared, Jarryd saw the girls running towards him, especially Ruby, who bursted into him and gave him a bear hug.

"Jarryd!" Ruby nearly cried into his chest.

"Hey, I'm fine, I'm fine Ruby" He said, smiling at his girlfriend, before earning a smack from Weiss.

"You dolt! You could have been killed" The heiress yelled, with surprising worry in her voice, Zwei also ran up to Jarryd and started to grab his leg.

"But I wasn't" Jarryd retorted with a cheeky grin.

"You might need these…" Blake said, holding out Crimson Fury and it's sheathe, and his waterbomb belt, which he gladly accepted.

"I probably will" He replied, his face turning serious "But we need to hurry, Torchwick is loading all kinds of weapons and military tech onto train cars, on top of that, there's a freakin bomb on one of 'em!" Jarryd finished, to which everyone's eyes widened, Dr. Oobleck then spoke up, stuttering.

"B-But that's impossible, T-These tunnels have been sealed off, they lead to a d-dead end!" The teacher replied, when the loudspeaker came on, and Roman's voice filled their ears.

"Attention everyone, to your places, we are leaving NOW!" The crime lord yelled over the speaker as the train started moving slowly.

"Well, they are heading somewhere!" Yang yelled to the professor.

"We need backup, I'll call Jaune!" Ruby said as she pulled out her scroll and dialed Jaune, only to be met with the words low signal, meaning they couldn't reach Team JNPR.

"What do we do now!" Blake panicked, when Jarryd turned to everyone.

"Only one thing to do…" Everyone turned back to him "We're stopping that train!" Everyone nodded and rushed towards the train and jumped onto it and climbed on top and opened the hatch to get down.

"We need to get to the front to stop this train!" Oobleck yelled the obvious, when Weiss had a look of worry.

"Um...Professor?" Weiss started, to which the teacher gave her a stern look.

"Doctor…" He grumbled, Weiss then pointed inside the train.

"What's that?" Everyone looked to see a chrome device, Jarryd's eyes widened.

"That's the bomb!" Jarryd, who had Zwei in his arms, yelled, much to everyone's surprise, Ruby then looked ahead.

"We've got baddies…" Ruby pointed to the other cars, showing White Fang soldiers climbing up and running towards them. Oobleck then looked to Blake.

"Blake, detach this car from the caboose, at once!" He ordered as everyone else jumped to the next car, and Blake went to the couplers and was ready to slash, when the car randomly detached.

"It...It detached itself!" Blake yelled up to the team.

"What!" Oobleck yelled as he looked down to Blake, Yang then looked over as well.

"They REALLY don't want us on this train…" She said when the car they were just on exploded.

"That's not good…" Dr. Oobleck softly.

"Neither is this!" Everyone turned to Jarryd, who had opened the next hatch, revealing another bomb. Oobleck then ran to the car ahead and opened the hatch, revealing yet another bomb.

"THEY ALL HAVE BOMBS!" Oobleck yelled, as the car they were on started to detach, the team then lept to the next car.

"This doesn't make sense!" Yang yelled, as the team turned back to see the White Fang members closing in on them. Jarryd then put Zwei in Ruby's hands and ran to the front of the car. He threw down a water bomb and sent a wave towards the soldiers, knocking them off the cars, though the explosion from the last car threw him off balance, making him look back to see Grimm from the upper city fall through the holes made by the explosions.

"Oh boy…everyone, he's leading Grimm to the city!" Oobleck yelled, making the team turn around in shock "Yang, Weiss and Blake, get down there and try to stop those bombs, Jarryd, Ruby and I, we are going to stop those bombs!" Dr. Oobleck finished with a proud look, only for Jarryd to look at him strangely.

"Yeah...uh...didn't I say that a minute ago…" Oobleck's face fell a bit at the words, when Weiss, Yang, and Blake went into a hatch, Ruby, Jarryd, Zwei and Oobleck started to run forward, when 4 paladins jumped onto the cars, Dr. Oobleck drank from his coffee cup, which transformed into a flamethrower, surprising Jarryd.

"I know right…" His girlfriend whispered to him as Zwei jumped in the air, to which Dr. Oobleck hit the puppy like he was playing baseball, and sent the dog flying at the iron warrior, Zwei was surrounded by flames as he was sent flying through the air, and hit the Paladin at full force, destroying it in 1 hit. Zwei landed on the next car and just barked happily, before another robot approached from behind, but was destroyed yet again by Dr. Oobleck as he spun his weapon around, creating a torrent of flames and explosions. They were about ready to move forward, when they heard the sounds of explosions coming from the other cars that the other 3 were in, Jarryd decided to take initiative.

"You 2 go on ahead! I need to make sure they are ok!" He yelled to his girlfriend and his teacher, Ruby just nodded, while the doctor wasn't quite sure and thought for a second before giving in.

"Very well, BUT, come back to our location as quick as possible!" Jarryd just nodded at the terms and ran off to the other cars. When he opened the hatch to the nearest one, he jumped down to see Torchwick being pinned by Blake, who just looked at him.

"I see you have...this….handled" Jarryd said, Blake just nodded, so he opened the door to the next car to see Weiss being held by her face by a goon wielding a chainsaw, and he was threw her to the ground, Jarryd shot the soldier in the hand with Venom, who just brought his hand back after letting go of the now unconscious Weiss, the man looked to him and started laughing as he rushed towards the pirate, chainsaw in hand. Jarryd took the opportunity and jumped over the gigantic man's head and slashed at his back with his cutlass, making the soldier stumble a bit, the grunt quickly swung his chainsaw back over to Jarryd's side, who just raised his sword to block, when the two weapons met, sparks were grinding off of both blades. Jarryd saw how open the other fighter was, since he struck from the side, so Jarryd aime his revolver at the man, and shot him in the chest, twice, sending him stumbling backwards again. The soldier brought his weapon behind his head and swung with full force, Jarryd had raised his sword to block again, making sparks fly everywhere, he looked to the side to see open area, so he grabbed a water bomb off of his belt and threw one at the ground, making water spill everywhere. Jarryd then thrusted his hand up, making the water rise and he threw it into the chainsaw, sending the weapon out of the attackers hand. Jarryd then slashed at the big man's chest a couple times and knocked him out with a swift punch to the face. He ran over to the knocked out Weiss, picked her up, and brought her into the car Blake was in, with a knocked out Roman "Take care of this for me…" He said, setting Weiss down gently, before running to the back of the car Weiss was in. When Jarryd opened the door to the next car, he saw Yang lying on the ground, also unconscious, and the multicolored girl from the first investigation, who he remembered Torchwick calling her Neo. Neo walked over to the unconscious blonde and unsheathed a blade hidden in her parasol, which Jarryd shot, making the girl's hand recoil as she looked to him and smirked as Jarryd walked over to her and she did the same, switching her blade back to parasol form. The two stopped about 5 feet away from each other, staring at each other, it was then that Jarryd noticed the details of her, she seemed young, you older than 20, she had pink and brown hair, with eye color to match, she was wearing a short pink jacket that went about to her chest, with a brown undershirt underneath, she also seemed to examine him, when Jarryd took his shot and swung Crimson Fury upwards towards Neo's chest, making her sidestep just in time, Jarryd swiped at where she was going, only for her to move back. He then rushed the girls and started slashing in every direction, only for Neo to either dodge or block the attack with her parasol, Jarryd then thrusted his blade in her direction, only for her to dodge by backflipping and landing on a box as she sat down and crossed her legs, parasol behind her head. Jarryd then aimed his revolver at the multi colored girl, who just smirked. Jarryd then shot 3 times at the girl, who blocked the bullets with her parasol, Jarryd kept firing as he walked closer to Neo, but about halfway to her, she looked behind Jarryd and her eyes grew wide as she teleported away. Jarryd turned around to see a figure clad in red walk into a spiraling dark red circle and disappear in a flash. Jarryd then heard a groan, and looked to see Yang's eyes flutter open, he reached his hand out for her to grab, which she gladly took "You ok?" Jarryd asked in a serious manner.

"Just peachy" Yang replied, a bit irritated that she was knocked out by a girl with an umbrella.

"Blake and Weiss are 2 cars ahead, I have to head back to Ruby and Oobleck!" He yelled to her as he jumped through the hatch that the 3 first came in, and started running back to his girlfriend, along the way, he saw Oobleck and Zwei fighting 2 more Paladins "Where's Ruby?!" Jarryd asked with worry in his voice, Oobleck looked over to him.

"I told her to go on ahead, you do the same!" The teacher yelled, Jarryd just nodded and continued to run, when he saw Ruby near the front of the train, as the other 3 girls climbed out of the nearest hatch, he quickly caught up to them.

"Huh, well ain't this convenient" Jarryd said, to which nobody replied as the girls were all looking at an oncoming barrier.

"What do we do!?" Blake yelled to the group, only to have Ruby and Weiss smile at each other, Weiss then stabbed her rapier into the train car, forming a shield of ice around them, then everything went white. Jarryd awoke to sirens blaring, but they were slightly muffled, he brought his eyes up to see he was covered over by a sheet of concrete.

"Aw, come on…" He whispered to himself as he tried to lift the sheet off of him, when he heard a muffled voice he could just make out.

"Where's Jarryd?" He heard a feminine voice ask, Jarryd was quick to respond.

"Under here!" He yelled to the voice, still trying to lift the concrete off of him, when it was finally lifted by Yang, Jarryd jumped up and dusted himself off as he looked at his surroundings, seeing his teammates laying against other broken pieces of the street, he also saw a bunch of other people looking their way, looking at the team with confusion. Then, the ground rumbled below them, as a giant King Taijitu popped out of the ground from underneath the team, sending them flying in different directions, other Grimm such as Beowolfs, Ursa, Deathstalkers and more seemed to follow, terrorizing the civilians of Vale, When the team regrouped, they looked in horror at the sight before them, they jumped down into the middle of a park, standing on a lone rectangle. They started firing shots rapidly to draw the attention of the Grimm over to them, and away from the people, and it works, as almost every Grimm that made it to the city stood before them, the girls looked worried, but Jarryd kept a calm face the whole time, as the Taijitu roared, it seemed to command the entire Grimm hoard to attack them, the team nodded at one another, jumping down to take on their own respective section of the hoard, Ruby stuck her scythe in the ground and boosted herself, sending her in a circle and kicking a pack of Beowolfs in the face, Blake slashed and shot at her prey in a rapid succession, Yang boosted herself off of a beast's head, and started firing shots from above, when a flock of bird-like Grimm swatted her towards the ground. Weiss just used her glyphs to take out multiple foes at a time, and Jarryd sent the area around him into a whirlpool, killing each creature that stepped into it, when the Taijitu roard in Ruby's face, it was met with a bang from a hammer that exploded, as Nora and the rest of JNPR landed on the ground, as Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren took off to fight their own group of beasts, Jaune was forced to fight one Ursa, as he started rapidly slashing, making the big bear Grimm fall over, dead.

"Nobody move, Junior detectives!" A voice yelled, everyone looked to see Sun and Neptune, holding their badges out.

"We have these so you know it's official" Neptune also commented, when over the horizon, a bunch of airships and 1 giant one flew over the city, Jarryd was looking up at the vehicles, when an Ursa jumped from behind him, which was shot down by one of the airships, Jarryd saluted the pilot, who he could tell saluted back. Then, android soldiers started dropping from the ships, and mowed down Grimm everywhere they landed, Jarryd looked to his right to see Mercury, Emerald, and Cinder, as he just learned the 2 girls names not to long ago, Mercury started to kick a group of Beowolfs like no tomorrow, Emerald only pulled out 2 pistols and shot at a group of Grimm heading her way. Another rumbling was heard, as a Paladin climbed out of the ground, previously made by the Taijitu, Zwei came out of nowhere, and started hopping on top of a Beowolfs head, another airship approached, revealing team CFVY and Professor Port, Jarryd sighed.

"How many more people are there!?" He yelled to nobody in particular as he fought off a wave of Boarbatusks, Team CFVY just joined the fray, and took down every creature in their path, slowly but surely, As Coco, the leader of the team, turned her purse into her trademark golden minigun, and started firing, killing every Grimm that was hit by it instantly. That was when Dr. Oobleck climbed out of the Paladin, and met up with Professor Port, firing off their weapons like rockets at another wave of Ursa, Then, Glynda joined in the fight, sending beasts flying away with her riding crop, as she repaired the broken streets, the students and teachers looked around to see that every beast was dead and dissolving, everyone raised their hands in victory and cheered as they all met up, Mercury and Emerald found Roman and escorted him into a military airship.

"Oh, I can't believe you caught me, Oh, I've seen the error of my ways." Torchwick sarcastically said as the robots tried to drag him off, Jarryd then ran up to them.

"Can I do something real quick?" The pirate asked the machine, who just slightly nodded, everyone watched to see what Jarryd would do as he stared Roman down, directly in his eyes.

"Well well, kid, what are you gonna do, rub your victory in my face, saying that justice was serv-" Roman was about to say, before Jarryd's fist got quickly aquainted with Roman's face, sending the criminal flying back into the airship as the doors closed, leaving Torchwick inside, Jarryd nodded towards the robots and walked back to the others, who nearly bursted out laughing.

"WOO!, That felt good!" He yelled loudly, as now everyone bursted out in laughter, even Glynda,as for the next hour, every team was talking, laughing and making fun of today's events. Jarryd then looked to the streets to see 3 figures, 2 males, one female, the female had long brown hair and green eyes from what he could see, one of the males was wearing a wearing a loose white jacket and had long black hair, the other male had straight white hair, a black button-up jacket and a gray vest over it, they were all standing over the dissolving corpse of a Beowolf, the girl and the white-haired male seemed to start arguing, as the black-haired male just started laughing. Jarryd also laughed at their antics, reminding him of what his team was last semester. The Beacon students then decided to fly back to the school

 **Beacon Academy Grounds, an hour later**

The team was taking a well deserved rest, sitting on the moat of Beacon.

"Well guys, we did it…" Yang said proudly, Weiss just started pouting.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I will be seriously dissapointed…" The heiress said with crossed arms, Jarryd began to laugh.

"Weiss, I giant snake crushed a bakery, I wouldn't count on it" Jarryd replied with an arms around Ruby, and the other hand petting Zwei, who then spoke up.

"Besides, we didn't solve everything, a lot of people were hurt, and we still don't know why they did this, or who that mystery girl is was." Ruby brought up with a slight frown.

"Well, not every story has a neat and tidy ending." Weiss responded to her leader.

"We might not have all the answers, but we do have a lot of dangerous people behind bars, and I think that's something we can be proud of.." Blake added on, everyone smiled at her, because a week ago, she would have said the exact opposite of that.

"Yeah, and if anyone tries something like this again, we'll be there to stop 'em" Ruby said with a cocky smile. Yang then began to laugh.

"That reminds me, what was the whole punching Torchwick thing for, Jarryd?!" The girls started laughing as Jarryd got a serious look.

"Oh, I've wanted to do that since the dock incident!" Jarryd answered, which equalled to more laughter.

"So….what now?" Yang asked in between laughs.

"I'd probably say 'prepare for the tournament', but I think we have that covered" Weiss said with a smile.

"So…." Yang trailed on, to which Ruby just nodded.

"Time for bed?" She asked her team.

"Finally!" Yang yelled.

"Definitely" Blake and Weiss said at the same time.

"Yep" Was all Jarryd said as they all got up and walked off to their dorm.

 **Vale hospital**

In the hospital, a young, black-haired boy was watching a white-haired boy pace across the room with a smile as he layed in a hospital bed.

"I told you not to work yourself too much, but _no_ , you had to go running off, fighting as many of those things as you could, and look what happened!" The white-haired boy yelled as he fiddled with the halberd strapped to his back, the black haired boy just laughed.

"Andrew, seriously, calm down, _IV_ fine, bro" The hospitalized boy said, pointing to fingers to his brother, now identified as Andrew, who ignored the joke.

"Calm down?, CALM DOWN!? Jackson, It's my job to take care of you right now, not only am I failing my job, I'm failing mom and dad, and you….I can't let anything happen to you" Andrew replied with a small frown, to which Jackson just had a small smile.

"Drew, I know, but I can't let you think that you have to protect me all the time, I can protect myself. We can and WILL get through this, together" Jackson told his brother as he held out his arms "Bring it in…" He said as Andrew just rolled his eyes and hugged Jackson, when a voice came from the entrance of the hospital room.

"Aww, ain't this too cute!" The brothers turned to see a girl with waist length brown hair, wearing knee length shorts, and a black tank-top, with a bo staff attached to her back "Wittle, Jackson and, Big Bwother Andwew are hugging it out" The girl teased. Andrew just smiled.

"What's up Irene" He said to the girl, named Irene, who's face went to serious for a second.

"How fast do you think you can get outta here Jax" She asked the hospitalized boy, who sweatdropped.

"I-I don't know, somewhere within the next week or 2 probably" Jackson answered with a hand behind his head.

"Good….we have a tournament to prepare for…" Irene said with a smirk.

 **AAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD DONE!**

 **Phew, that was fun.**

 **As you can see, you got a little taste of the 3 OC's that have been submitted to me. Andrew and Jackson were submitted by 5waydragon and Irene was actually submitted by a friend of mine...so yeah…**

 **Make sure to vote on**


	9. Chapter 9

' **Sup**

 **So, the first part of this chapter is going to be the first interaction between Jarryd and the OC's, also...In the future chapters...someone comes back...just a heads up, not telling who though.**

 **And todays chapter will just be a fun one, straying away from canon.**

 **Also I think I will be doing the tournament in a Non-Canon way, because I liked a certain fic where they did individual battles, not team battles, if you want the canon style, just say so, though it will take a bit to convince me.**

 **Anyway...LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

 **Downtown Vale**

Jarryd had been walking through the streets of Vale, he had to visit a nearby glassmaker, to restock on water bomb canisters, since he used about half of his arsenal during the mission. After Jarryd got his resupply of 10 more glass balls, which held the water, as he walked down the street, looking at the other shops, not paying attention to where he was going, he ran into another figure. As he fell down on his rear, he looked at the person he ran into, a boy with white hair, wearing a button-up jacket with a gray vest, and what looked like an axe attached to his back, Jarryd realized this was one of the boys in the street he saw in Vale during the Grimm invasion, the boy had also dropped what seemed like grocery bags, Jarryd quickly got up and held out his hand to the boy.

"Sorry, man" The boy just looked up and grabbed his hand, allowing Jarryd to pull him up.

"It's no big deal...suppose I should tell you my name" The boy held out his hand, this time for a handshake "Andrew, Andrew Blink" Jarryd grabbed Andrew's hand and shook it.

"Jarryd Starks, if you don't mind my asking, what's with the bags" Jarryd said, pointing to the bags,still on the ground, Andrew then rushed over and picked up the bags.

"It's snacks for my brother, who's in the hospital" Andrew replied, looking at the ground, Jarryd just frowned a bit.

"I'm sorry for that" Jarryd looked at a street clock "I have time, mind if I come and visit him with you?" He asked with more of a smile, to which Andrew also smiled.

"Yeah, I think he'd like that…" Andrew responded as he started walking in the direction of the hospital "Come on" Jarryd rushed to walk side by side with the white-haired boy. As the 2 were walking towards the hospital, Jarryd tried to break the ice.

"So….where'd you get the axe?" Jarryd questioned, only for Andrew to stop in his tracks and look down.

"It..Is...A….HALBERD!" Andrew yelled at the top of his lungs, making Jarryd jump back a little bit, Andrew then calmed down and sheepishly smiled "Sorry, I get really irritated when someone calls it an axe, and it's name is Black Cardinal FYI"

"Good to know…" Jarryd replied with a sweatdrop, as the 2 kept walking. When they arrived at the hospital, the 2 went inside and asked which room his brother was resting in, to which the receptionist responded by telling him he was in the first room on the 3rd floor. As the boys entered the elevator, Jarryd made another attempt to break the ice "So...your brother got a name?" Andrew just looked and smiled at the question, like the halberd comment never happened.

"His name's Jackson, he's a nice, though he makes terrible puns." Andrew said with a slight scowl, showing that he wasn't a fan.

"I know that all too well…" The pirate responded, being reminded of his blonde teammate, the 2 then reached the specific room that Andrew's brother, Jackson, was being cooped up in. When they walked in the room, Jarryd saw a black haired boy boy laying in bed, wearing a hospital gown, and reading a comic book. The boy turned his head at the sound of the opening door, and saw the 2. The black haired male smiled and held out his arms, to which Andrew quickly rushed up and pulled him in for a bear hug. Jarryd made a wild guess and assumed the boy was Jackson.

"It's great to see you Drew, how ya doin'?" Jackson asked his brother, who just smiled.

"I'm doing fine, I brought you some snacks…" Andrew replied as he pulled a package of small chocolate cookies, Jackson's face lit up.

"Aw heck yeah!" The hospitalized kid yelled at the top of his lungs, reaching for the bag, tearing it open, and shoving the treat in his mouth. Then, he turned back to Jarryd "Who's thith guy" Jackson pointed at the swordsman, mouth full of food. Andrew also turned to look at him.

"This right here is Jarryd Starks, I bumped into him on the way here, he's a good guy." Andrew said, motioning to the pirate, who just held out his hand with a smile. Jackson also held out his and the two men shook.

"Nice to meet you, Jackson, Andrew told me a bit about you" Jarryd told the black haired boy, who gave a mischievous smile.

"A pleasure, Jarryd, you know how to make _Starks_ fly on the first impression…" Jackson replied, putting emphasis on Starks, making it a pun. Jarryd looked wide eyed to Andrew.

"Holy crap, you weren't kidding when you said terrible puns…" Jarryd stated, Andrew just nodded furiously. Jarryd's eyes then wandered to the corner of the room, where a sword with a white handle and black blade laid. Jarryd pointed to the sword, and looked at Jackson "That baby yours?" He questioned, Jackson then smiled.

"Yep, that's my pride and joy right there, I call her Truths Fang" Jackson replied as Jarryd observed the weapon, and noticed the style of sword it was, a saber "Made her myself" Jackson chuckled at Jarryd's awed expression at the blades detail.

"You made that?!" Jarryd said, still in awe.

"Yep, he did" Andrew spoke up "We have a forge that we use at our home, it's also how I made Black Cardinal." The white haired boy finished with a smile.

"Yeah, we're second year students at Atlas" Jackson said with pride in his voice "Anyways, what've you got in your arsenal" The boy pointed to the sheath on Jarryd's belt, to which the pirate brought out his cutlass, and twirling it around, Andrew nodded with an impressed expression, and Jackson closed one of his eyes and put one of his fingers in a hook formation.

"Shiver me timbers! That be a fine blade you have there, lad" Jackson said in a fake pirate impression, making Jarryd almost want to punch him for basically insulting him, his father, and all pirates out there, but he kept it inside.

"Thanks, my dad gave it to me on my birthday, it's never left my side since." Jarryd proudly stated "and now I'm a first year student at Beacon Academy" Jackson just smiled again.

"So there is a _Beacon_ of potential in you…" Jackson punned again, making Jarryd and Andrew facepalm.

"Why yes there is, Jackson...:" A voice said behind them, Jarryd turned around to see a mechanical staff pointed at his forehead, he looked past it to see a girl with waist length brown hair, bright green eyes, a smirk on her face, wearing a black tank top and blue jean shorts "Indeed there is"

"Irene, watch where you point that thing, especially at a new friend" Andrew told her, the now identified Irene's smirk was still there as her staff retracted to a small length, and putting it in her pocket.

"Whatever you say Andy" Andrew scowled at the name as Irene just held her hand out to Jarryd "Irene Chamelian" She said, Jarryd cautiously shook her hand.

"Jarryd Starks" He said slowly, unaware if the girl wanted to be friends or kill him on the spot. Then, Jarryd's scroll started buzzing, he took it out of his pocket and opened it up to see a message from Ruby.

 _"What's taking you so long?"_ The screen said, Jarryd held up his hand to show he needed to reply.

 _"Sorry, I thought I had extra time, I'll be coming back right away, dear"_ Jarryd typed back to his girlfriend, he got his reply about 15 seconds later.

 _"Ok, hurry back, I can't wait to see you again… ;)"_ Ruby messaged, this had been going on for about a week, as Ruby has told him that she wants to take their relationship to the next level, in some ways that legitimately scared him, she would constantly tease him with comments while they are alone, such as 2 days ago, as Ruby was going into the bathroom, she said "I'm going to take a shower, want to join me?" She had asked her boyfriend with a seductive smirk, making Jarryd wonder what Yang has taught her. Jarryd did promise her that they would go on their first date soon, and he found the perfect place.

"Well, it's been fun you 3, but I gotta run" Jarryd said as he gave a quick handshake to Andrew and Jackson, and giving a nod to Irene, who still had the same smirk on her face. Then, Jarryd walked out the door, leaving the other 3 in silence, which was broken once Jackson realized the look Irene had.

"Uh, Irene….are you doing what I think you're doing?" Jackson asked the girl, who didn't respond, as she just stared at the door Jarryd left through, thought going through her mind.

 **Back in downtown Vale**

Jarryd walked back towards the L.Z of the airship to take him back to Beacon, though on the way, his thoughts were on how he would ask the young leader out with him.

'Should I go for a suave approach, or just come right out and say it' He sighed 'never done this before..' He finished in his mind, when he came back to his senses and realized he was walking in an alleyway, he kept on his pace, despite the ambiance of the alley. But, Jarryd came to a stop when he felt something, a feeling of being watched, a cool breeze waved over his neck, giving him chills down his spine. At that moment, something fell down in front of him, what looked like a man a foot taller than him, wearing a dark purple and black coat, with a hood over his head, leaving only a bearded chin and blank expression uncovered. Jarryd looked over the man with caution.

"So….who are you?" The pirate asked a little nervously, the cloaked figure said nothing, and started to walk towards him. Jarryd started to worry as to the motives of the man, and started to pull Venom out of its holster, that's when the man rushed forwards, end of the coat flying back due to the speed, Jarryd tried to quickly aim at the moving figure, but his arm was grabbed by the man's right hand, which had a cold, metallic feel to it, as the other hand swatted the revolver out of Jarryd's hands. When Jarryd was finally able to register what had happened, the right elbow of the stranger met his face, sending him stumbling backwards. When Jarryd recovered, he saw the man standing still with no expression coming from his uncovered mouth. Jarryd then unsheathed Crimson Fury and charged at the man, who stood as still as a tree, as Jarryd slashed at him. The man just looked at the oncoming strike and raised his right arm and blocked the blow, Jarryd noticed no signs of pain coming from the stranger, leaving him confused, Jarryd raised his sword for another strike, which was again, blocked by the man's arm. Jarryd brought his sword down again, only for the man to grab the blade this time, giving Jarryd a good look of his arm, what he saw shocked him, a completely metal arm, Jarryd then wondered why the man was attacking him, as an idea why came to his head "Are you with the White Fang?" Jarryd asked the man, whose expression remained the same, after a few seconds, he finally spoke.

"No." Was the only thing that the stranger said, in a deep voice, dashing Jarryd's conclusion, leaving him more confused at the man's intentions as the man punched Jarryd in the gut as he was thinking, catching him off guard, and sending him flying, when Jarryd came to his senses, he looked at the cloaked person and spoke again.

"Then why are you attacking me?" He nearly yelled, as he got up to his feet.

"I am merely testing you, Jarryd Starks" The stranger said another thing that confused the boy, how did he know his name, and what did he mean by testing. Those were the thoughts that ran through Jarryd's mind as the man continued "And I will continue to do so…..until you are ready." He added onto Jarryd's confusion.

"Ready for what?" Jarryd asked again, still clutching his stomach from the punch he received earlier.

"That…." The man started as Jarryd listened intently "Is something I can't tell you…." He finished with a frown, making Jarryd sigh as the man walked backwards and wind started to blow so hard, that Jarryd had to cover his eyes, he heard the sound of rushing wind fill his ears until it died down, when Jarryd opened his eyes, the man was gone. He looked around to see where the strange person had gone, the only thing that was remaining where the man was standing, was a drop of water and a piece of paper, that read "We will meet again" in a cursive font. Jarryd looked around for the strange figure, but he was nowhere to be found, Jarryd decided it was something that could be saved for later, as he exited the alleyway, and saw the airship. As he was boarding, the swordsman thought about a detail.

'What do I tell the girls, if I say anything at all…' Jarryd thought for a moment before deciding 'They don't need to know, we have a tournament to prepare for.' Was the last thing he thought as the ship took flight. About 15 minutes later, the ship started to descend, Jarryd looked out the window, to see Ruby waiting for him, Jarryd smiled at his girlfriend, even though she couldn't see him. The ship finally landed, Jarryd waited for the door to open, and when it did, Jarryd moved only 4 steps out of the ship before being tackled by his girlfriend, who laid her head on his chest "Hey, Ruby…" Was all he said, before Ruby's head quickly shot up and gave him a kiss on the lips.

"I missed you…" Ruby stated softly, making Jarryd chuckle.

"I was only gone 2 hours"

"It felt like a year to me." His girlfriend pouted, Jarryd smirked in response.

"Well then, I know how to make it up to you…" He started, making Ruby look at him in confusion "While I was in Vale, I saw this cafe with cake, cookies, all that jazz, so I was wondering if you'd like t-" Jarryd tried to say, but was cut off by his girlfriend giving him another kiss on the lips, the 2 stayed that way for about 10 seconds, before Ruby broke the kiss, and looked at him with a seductive smile.

"I'd love to" Ruby answered, as she got off of him and stood up, Jarryd got up as well.

"Great, what time do you want me to pick you up at?" He asked Ruby, who put her hand to her chin, thinking about the question, before she thought of an answer.

"How bout 7:30 tonight?" Ruby responded, Jarryd looked at his scroll to look at the time, it was currently 3 in the afternoon.

"Sounds perfect, I'll see you then." He told his girlfriend as he gave her a quick peck on the lips, Ruby turned to walk back to their dorm, before turning back.

"By the way, you never gave me an answer to my offer a few days ago…" Ruby said with a smirk, referring to the shower comment, Jarryd had a light blush on his face, and his hand behind his head.

"Ruby, as much as I'd love to, I think that's illegal…" Jarryd sheepishly stated, to which Ruby's smirk got wider.

"You're a pirate, aren't you, when has that ever stopped you…?" She asked before using her semblance to burst off to the dorm, Jarryd had a slight look of amusement on his face.

'Damn, she's getting good….' Jarryd thought to himself, when a slight coughing sound was heard from behind him, he turned around to see Professor Ozpin, smiling at him.

"Now that your girlfriend is gone…" The professor started, making Jarryd blush more "I have to speak with you for a moment…" Ozpin finished, making Jarryd a bit worried.

"Did I do something wrong, sir?" He asked, only for Ozpin to chuckle in response.

"Quite the contrary, Mr. Starks, I have a mission for you, and only you" Ozpin said, still with a smile, though Jarryd was a little confused about why it would only be him, not his entire team, but the other thing he wondered, was when. If it was today, he couldn't have his date with Ruby, but Ozpin just smiled again "This mission will be in 3 days, so you will be able to have fun with Ruby and the rest of your team for a while" The pirate sighed in relief.

"Ok, what're the details I should know?" Jarryd asked, still curious about the mission.

"I'm glad you asked, though, I would have told you anyways" Ozpin just laughed as Jarryd rolled his eyes at the remark "General Ironwood has picked up some strange readings on an island about 50 miles off of the coast of Vale, we want you to find out what it is" Jarryd had two questions.

"Ok, 1: Why is Ironwood trusting me with this, thought the guy hated my guts, and 2: Why can't the military just send in airships?" Jarryd continued to question.

"Your first question has no straight answer, I was confused myself, and your second question, the Island had a very mountainous landscape, so an airship won't have any safe spot to land in, and the navy is out patrolling the borders, so they aren't able to check it out." Ozpin answered both questions, Jarryd still had one more thought.

"So…..how am I getting there?" The swordsman finally asked, Ozpin just closed his eyes and smiled.

"The answer to that….Is a bit close to home." Ozpin hinted, Jarryd was confused at first, but his eyes widened when he realized what he meant.

"You don't mean…" Jarryd started, only for the headmaster to chuckle more.

"Yes, you will be traveling with The Red Band" Jarryd was elated, yet sad, he would be able to see his family again, but he would have to be away from his team, especially Ruby, for a few days, but he remembered that his scroll did use messages, so it wouldn't be a problem

"Alright, I accept." Jarryd told the professor, who smiled more.

"Excellent, your father will meet you at the docks in Vale." Ozpin said with a big grin, handed Jarryd a file, and started to walk off "And say hi to your father from me…" He finished as left for his office, leaving Jarryd with a smile as he walked back to his dorm room. 5 minutes later, he arrived at the team's dorm, when he walked in, he saw the 4 girls chatting, Jarryd also looked over to his bed, in the same spot where he used to sleep on the floor. The girls had felt bad for him having to sleep on the floor, so they ordered the swordsman a better place to rest his head on. Ruby was the first to notice him, ran up, and hugged him, Jarryd rolled his eyes, seeing as she had done this at least 4 times today, the other girls just had smiles on their faces from the display of affections.

"Ruby told us that you two are going out tonight" Yang said with a smirk, Jarryd just smiled.

"Well, she's not wrong" Jarryd replied with a small laugh, Yang just threw her head back in triumph.

"Finally! Took you long enough, bro." Yang had taken to calling the pirate that, since he was in a relationship with her sister. Jarryd then looked at the file in his pocket.

"And there's something else I want to tell you girls." He said as Ruby let go and gave her boyfriend a look of confusion, the same look the other 3 girls had as he pulled out the file given to him by Ozpin "I've been assigned to a solo mission off the coast of Vale, I'll be gone for a few days, 5 at the max." Jarryd said as he held the file for them all to see, Ruby started pouting.

"Awww, do you have to?" Ruby asked sadly.

"Sadly, yes, I have to find some sort of strange readings on the radar's of the military, seeing as they can't check it themselves, I have to do it." The brunette answered, making Blake look in confusion.

"So, why aren't we allowed along with you?" Blake questioned, making Jarryd's eyes go wide.

"I knew I forgot to ask Ozpin something!" Jarryd yelled as he mentally slapped himself for forgetting that after all the questions he asked, Blake just smiled.

"Hey, it's alright, just wanted to know" Blake replied, making Jarryd sigh, though he was happy that Blake was settling down after the investigation, her sleep schedule had been fixed, her grades were rising, everything was back to normal with the B in RWBY.

"Though, I have to ask, how will you get to this island?" Weiss finally said after being silent for so long, Jarryd smiled once again.

"That's the good thing..." He hinted, causing the girls to have a confused look "I'm having a little family reunion…" Yang smirked.

"Back to your ship, huh" The blonde answered, making Jarryd smirk as well, and the other's eyes go wide, Ruby started to pout in jealousy.

"No fair, I want to travel with pirates too…" She told her boyfriend, who rustled her hair.

"I'll be leaving 3 days from now, so we still have time to do fun stuff" Jarryd responded to his girlfriend, who perked up a little bit.

"Yay!" She screeched at the top of her lungs, Jarryd passed the time by hanging out in the dorm room, talking to the girls, getting accustomed to his new sleeping arrangements, he then looked to the clock, to see that it was already 7:15, 15 minutes before he said he'd pick Ruby up "Well, I'll be back soon" He told Ruby, who nodded. Jarryd quickly grabbed the bag with the clothes he had planned for tonight, an all black tux, he thought that since they were just planning to go to the cafe, he could go with regular clothes, but since this is their first date, he decided to get fancy. He speed walked his way down to the bathroom, slipped off his casual clothing, and replaced it with the tuxedo, he would still take his weapons with him, incase that nutjob from the alley or anyone else decided to attack. When he exited the washrooms, he looked to his left to see a vase filled with roses on a pedestal, most likely for hallway decorations, Jarryd grabbed one of the roses and used his sword carefully to cut all of the thorns off of the flower, so it was able to be held in one's hand without pain. Jarryd walked back to the dorm room, rose in hand, and knocked on the door, only for Yang to answer.

"Ruby'll be out in just a moment…" Yang said to the pirate, as she slammed the door shut, Jarryd took his time by leaning up against the back wall, near team JNPR's door, a few moments later, the door opened again, making Jarryd look back to the door, in which he saw the most beautiful sight out there, even beating the crystal blue waters, and amazing island formations he was used to seeing out on the ship. Ruby had emerged from the room, wearing a shin length dress, that at the top, was a dark red and faded to black as it got lower, it reminded him of her dress for the dance. Ruby had a blush on her face as Jarryd walked up to her, smiling, and gave her the rose.

"Should we go?" He asked as Ruby took the rose and smiled.

"Yes, we should" Ruby replied, blush still slightly on her face as she grabbed her boyfriends hand and started to walk down the hallway, a few minutes later, they were already on an airship, heading for downtown Vale. The ride there was mostly filled with awkward silence, since neither Ruby nor Jarryd knew what to say, instead, Ruby just snuggled up against Jarryd's chest for the entirety of the ride. About 20 minutes later, the airship touched down near the streets of the city, the couple quickly got out and Jarryd told the pilot that he would call when they needed a ride back, the 2 then took to the sidewalk, holding hands on the way to the cafe. They arrived at their destination about 5 minutes later, when they walked in, Ruby immediately dashed over to the counter, not being able to wait to have her second favorite food, Jarryd followed and rang the service bell, since nobody was at the counter.

"COMING!" The pair heard from the kitchen, as a couple seconds later, a round man with jet black hair and a curly moustache, donning an apron, burst through the door and rushed to the counter "How can I help you 2 today!" The man yelled at the top of his lungs, Ruby just looked at the menu for a second and then looked back to the man.

"I'll have 1 tray of chocolate chip cookies, please!" Ruby replied with the same enthusiasm, making Jarryd sweatdrop, the man's attention turned to Jarryd.

"And you, good sir!" The moustached man said to him.

"I'll just have a cheesecake" Jarryd replied with a nervous grin.

"Both excellent choices! I shall return with your orders, meanwhile, grab a seat!" The man gestured to the tables behind them as he ran back through the doors, Jarryd and Ruby did as told and took a seat at a booth against the wall. Jarryd decided to bring up a question that has been bugging him.

"So...who's been telling you to say all these risque things to me?" He asked and was met with a confused stare from Ruby, as she didn't know what the word risque meant "The whole getting in the shower with you thing" Ruby finally understood after the explanation, and blushed.

"Yeah….Yang told me to try it…" Ruby said with a sheepish smile and her arm behind her head.

"That was my first guess." The swordsman replied, earning a laugh from both of them, this sort of conversation continued for a while, when the round man came out again, walking over to their table, carrying their orders.

"Cookies for the lady!" He set down a gigantic tray of chocolate chip cookies down in front of Ruby, who bobbed up and down in her seat in excitement "And a cheesecake for the gentleman!" He yelled again, setting down Jarryd's food, as he flashed the man a thumbs up "If you need anything else just call me up!" The waiter yelled again before running back to his station, Jarryd just sweatdropped again.

"He sure loves his job doesn't he…" The pirate told his girlfriend, who was already through ¼ of her tray of cookies, and still going "relax, nobody's gonna steal them from you" Ruby looked up at him, and just shrugged, Jarryd decided to finally dig into his cheesecake. When he first tried it, he was genuinely surprised at how good it was "Wow, that guy was doing something right" Ruby chuckled and nodded her head up and down. After about an hour of eating, Jarryd finally paid for the meal, which was a little expensive due to the size of the tray Ruby ordered, and the 2 left the cafe "Anything else you want to do?" Jarryd asked, to which Ruby looked around the street and pointed to a building, a cinema.

"How about a movie?" The young leader also asked, Jarryd just smiled and nodded.

"Sure, you pick whichever one you want" He replied. Jarryd had expected Ruby to find a romantic film, but was surprised when she walked over to a poster that had a bald man, wearing a yellow jacket, and lightning coming out of his body, Jarryd smiled "Interesting, what's it about?"

"It's about this guy who gets caught in a gigantic bomb blast, and when he wakes up, he's given electric superpowers and goes all WAAHHH WATCAHAH on the gangs of the city, and finds out about the explosion that gave him his powers!" Ruby yelled, Jarryd had to try his hardest to not laugh at his girlfriend's antics.

"Alright, I'm convinced, let's head in then." Jarryd replied, as he took hold of Ruby's hand and walked into the building, Jarryd also payed for their tickets, and headed into the theatre. Jarryd and Ruby sat in the very front seats, and since it was so late at night, they were the only ones there, Jarryd then wrapped his arm around Ruby as the movie started.

 **1 hour later**

Both Jarryd and Ruby had exited the theatre, they both had grins on their faces.

"I have to admit, that was pretty good." Jarryd admitted, Ruby just looked to him and smiled.

"I know, right, the way he just smacks those red guys and shoots lightning and AH it's all so cool!" Ruby yelled in her usual happy go lucky demeanor, as they contacted the ship, and headed for the LZ, 15 minutes later, the ship arrived and the 2 boarded. The couple took the same spots they had on the flight to Vale.

"So...though it was short, I say this was a complete success" Jarryd stated, Ruby just smiled.

"I would agree completely" She replied as Jarryd kissed the top of her head "Promise me you'll be safe on your mission?" Ruby said staring at her boyfriend with puppy-dog eyes, he just laughed.

"Of course, I promise." Ruby nested herself on his chest as the ship flew back to their temporary home.

 **3 days later**

Team RWBY arrived at the docks, to send their male team member off, Jarryd stood in front of the disguised Crimson Raider, with the crew members preparing for the voyage, Jarryd turned to his teammates.

"It's gonna feel good to be home for a bit, again" He said and smiled, Yang just looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"Well duh, you're a freakin' pirate, you never run out of exciting things to do" The brawler crossed her arms at the thought. The ship lowered a plank that touched the docks, and Jarryd recognized his father as the first one walking down to the docks, Jarryd ran up to his father and pulled him into a bear hug, his father yelped in pain as his back was getting weaker with age, Jarryd quickly let him down.

"Sorry dad!" The captain adjusted his back as the girls just started to chuckle.

"It's fine, I'm glad to see you too" John said painfully, still having back pain as Jarryd turned to his team.

"Well…..I'll see you girls in a couple of days…" Jarryd held out his arms, Ruby and Yang quickly ran up and started to hug him, Blake just smiled and joined in the hug, they all looked at Weiss.

"Fine" Weiss groaned and joined the group embrace, they stood there, hugging for a minute, when they heard a throat clear behind them, John was smiling at the group, mostly at the friends his adoptive son had made.

"Shall we go now?" John asked, Jarryd gave a quick kiss to Ruby, and started walking towards his dad.

"Yeah, let's go" Jarryd replied and started to walk up the plank of wood with his father, once on the ship, they brought the piece of wood on board as Jarryd was looking over the deck at his team, his father manned the wheel, and started to command the crew.

"Hoist anchor!" He yelled as a couple of men went over to pull the heavy metal object out of the water "Sails!" John yelled again, another small group ran over to a bunch of ropes, and started pulling, expanding the sails so they would catch the wind, the ship started to move, slowly but surely. Jarryd noticed the sudden movement and began to wave goodbye to his teammates, who smiled and waved back, and they continued to do so, until the Crimson Raider departed from the docks, Jarryd went to the front of the ship, where he was greeted by several crew members.

"Glad to have you back!" One man said to him, patting Jarryd roughly on the back.

"Hasn't been the same without you!" A female faunus gave a smile as more people crowded their captain's son, Jarryd noticed some new crew members on the ship, as some were brought up to the crowd, he addressed the crew.

"Guys, I'm honored, but we have work to do, so let's get to it!" He yelled to the crowd, who yelled back in approval as the crew went off to their separate stations. Jarryd walked up to his father and pulled out the electronic map he was given along with the file, which showed their destination, and them, kinda like a GPS. John understood the instructions, and started to plot out the ship's course, Jarryd decided to get situated with his old room again. He set his luggage down in the room and sat down on the bed 'Just like old times…' he thought to himself, when the door to his room opened up, revealing a boy and a girl, the boy had deep brown eyes, with dirty blonde hair, the girl had green eyes, and also had dirty blonde long hair, both wearing standard pirate uniforms, bandanas, baggy shirts and pants, the usual "Can I help you?" Jarryd asked the 2, the girl blushed and looked down, obviously shy, while the guy smiled.

"We wanted to come by and say hi to the pirate that got his way into the best academy in the world" The male said, Jarryd put up his hands and had a sheepish smile.

"That's kind and all, but I'm not **that** special…" Jarryd replied and held his hand out

"Jarryd Starks, though I guess you knew that…" The young man took Jarryd's hand and shook.

"Max King, and this is my sister, Audrey." He shook Jarryd's hand and pointed to his sister, who was still blushing "She's pretty shy…"

"I've noticed" The captain's son replied, Audrey's head remained down as Max ruffled her hair "You 2 new here?"

"Yeah, joined the gang last month, though they've made us feel welcome" Jarryd smirked at the answer, as that's the response he usually gets, the group really does well with treating the rookies "Anyways, we've been hearing stories about how the captain's son got accepted into Beacon, when we heard you were coming on board, I just had to meet you, you defied the odds"

"What odds?" Jarryd asked, a bit confused.

"That fact that a fellow scoundrel can get accepted into freakin' Beacon Academy, the chances are like, 1000 to 1" Max laughed.

"When you put it like that, I see what you mean, I guess I'm just lucky the headmaster saw something in me" He replied "Anyway, I need to get to work, this isn't a time to rest, we have a mission to get done…" Jarryd got up and started walking towards the door.

"That's another question I have" Max started "Why are we taking a mission from the government, you know, the same group that runs the navy" Jarryd looked back to Max and his sister, who had finally raise her head, also wondering about the question.

"I don't know, I'm hoping that it can keep the navy off our backs, I know you're new, but do you know about Jack Daw?" Jarryd questioned the 2, who nodded their heads "That's why, I don't want that sort of crap to happen anymore, and if accepting a mission from the government is what we have to do to make sure of that, I'll take a chance" Max and Audrey nodded at the explanation "Now, I have to get some more work done to keep us going" Jarryd left the room, and began to check all the necessities for their travel were all set.

 **7:00 pm**

The Red Band crew were all gathered in the mess hall of the ship, listening to Jarryd telling stories of his time at Beacon.

"He starts rambling on, and I get pissed off, so I just nail him in the face like that, sending him into the ship!" Jarryd yells to the crew, that bursts out laughing as the grown men take more swigs of booze, and started to get tipsy.

"That'll show the jackass!" His father laughed out loud at Torchwick's demise.

"So what happened to Torchwick?" A random crew member asked.

"The douchebag's in prison, probably being interrogated by Ironwood" A couple members booed at the name of the general, since he commands the navy "Though I'm not sure he's gonna stay locked up for long, he's gonna find some way to escape, I'll just kick his ass again" Jarryd rested his hand behind his back as the crew got more and more intoxicated as the night went on, they even started singing.

"' _O the year was 1778, how I wish I was in Sherbrooke now, a letter of marque came from the king, to the scummiest vessel I ever seen"_

" _God damn them all!"_ Jarryd listened along to the shanty as he thought of how his team was faring without him _"I was told we'd cruise the seas for Mistralian gold, we'd fire no guns, shed no tears, now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett's Privateers!"_ The entire crew joined in the song, mostly due to the beer they had been drinking, Jarryd then had noticed how tired he was, he quickly looked to his father, and told him he was going to bed, John nodded. Jarryd started to walk away as the others still sung in the drunken stupor _"Oh Elcid Barrett cried the town, how I wish I was in sherbrooke now! For 20 brave men all fishermen who would make for him the Antelope's crew, God damn them all!"_ Jarryd opened the door, and looked back at his family one more time _"I was told we'd cruise the seas for Mistralian gold we'd fire no guns, shed no tears, now I'm a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barrett's Privateers!"_ Jarryd closed the door, muffling the rest of the singing, he quickly walked to his room, got undressed, laid down and went off into a blissful slumber.

 **6:00 am Next Day**

Jarryd woke up right away, eager to get a start for the day, he exited his room to see only a handful of members on deck, swabbing it, as many would say. Jarryd looked around to see that the ship was docked on a coastal town, the captain likely brought the ship here so they could restock on supplies. Jarryd went to check on his father, since he probably would have had to stay up most of the night to get the ship here. When he entered the room, John was putting his coat on, also ready to start the day, when he noticed his son.

"Jarryd, what brings you by?" The captain asked, his son just smiled.

"Just came to ask when we docked at this place?" Jarryd questioned as his father smiled back.

"We needed a rest stop, so that's what we're doing, and we docked at about 10, we'll be leaving in about a half an hour though." John replied.

"Great, that's all I needed to know, and we're halfway there!" Jarryd said excitedly, as he pulled out the map, showing that the ship had travelled most of the way in the one day. Jarryd walked out of his dad's cabin to see if there was any work to be done before they departed from the island, when he noticed Max sharpening the crew's swords, but in the wrong way, he was holding the blade sideways on the grindstone, but never got near the point of the sword to sharpen the tip, Jarryd walked over and grabbed the sword, Max looked up at him "You're not getting anywhere near the tip of the blade, the edge is important, but the blade needs to be an even sharpness" Jarryd took over the grindstone and balanced out the blade by spending about 5 minutes on the tip of the sword alone. He handed the sword back to Max "If you don't get an even sharpness on the sword, you won't be able to use a certain area of your blade, because it will start to chip" Max looked up wide-eyed at the Beacon student, as if he was some sort of god.

"I never knew that…" The rookie said in admiration of his superior.

"You'll get it down soon enough." Jarryd put the sword on the rack with the other "Finished" swords, Max was still in awe at the nonchalant way he did the hard task. Jarryd left the starstruck boy to his own devices and went to tend to the cannons, if there was a run in with an enemy ship, the cannons needed to be ready. Jarryd climbed over the edge of the ship and shimmied over to the cannon's barrel, when he looked inside, he noticed a lot of rust through the barrel that would make the gun jam and possibly blow itself up. He had grabbed a handkerchief and soaked in with lemon juice, in case the cannons did actually rust, and started wiping the inside of the cannon "That should do it…" Jarryd said to himself as he began to wipe down the other cannons on the ship. When he finished, he saw his father already at the wheel of the ship, commanding the troops to get into position for takeoff from the port, Jarryd climbed back up onto the ship and went to the front of the Crimson Raider as a spotter.

 **2 hours later**

Water was the only thing in sight for miles, no islands, no other ships, just good ol H20. Jarryd had kept a close eye on the map, they had travelled only about 2/6 of the way from their original spot. Suddenly, the ship stopped with a crash, shaking the entire ship, and knocking Jarryd and his father off balance. When Jarryd came to his senses and looked to his father.

"Why'd we stop!" He yelled, only for John to look around in confusion.

"I don't know, I think we hit something!" The captain yelled back, Jarryd got up and began to walk on the wooden beam at the front of the ship to see if he could see the source of the crash. Sure enough, he saw another long wooden rod protruding out of the water, he walked back over to the deck as his father joined him at the front of the ship.

"Yeah, we hit a shipwreck, must be a big one if we can hit it from this far out in the sea…" The boy stated, John only scowled.

"Well, we aren't moving anywhere if we don't get unstuck, I think we have to drop anchor and use the diving bell" John turned to his son "can you do it?" He asked, Jarryd just smiled.

"Sure, haven't used the thing in a long time, I'd love to go for another dive" The tandem of father and son went to the lower deck, to see the confused looks of the crew members, and when they saw the 2, awaited an explanation "We hit a shipwreck, I'm going down to fix the problem" Jarryd told them as he and his father went lower into the ship where the diving bell was located. John opened a large hatch that showed the water that the ship was currently floating on, and the rest of the shipwreck below. Jarryd readied his sword in case of emergency, and lowered himself into the water, soaking his clothes, his father lowered the diving bell over his head.

"Tug on the chain a couple times when you want to come up." The captain's muffled voice told his son, as Jarryd located the chain within the bell.

"Alright, I'm heading down" Jarryd looked down into the clear water, only able to see a couple of fish, and the wreck they were stuck on. He grabbed the bell's chain, breathed in heavily and held it, and began to swim towards the stuck part of the ship. Jarryd was right, the wreck was massive, he guessed the ship was about 5 times larger than the Crimson Raider **(Imagine the Man-o-war's from Assassin's Creed 4).** Jarryd swam towards the front of the boat, carrying the bell chain in one hand, and propelling himself with his other arms and his legs, and he immediately saw the problem. The deck of the sunken ship had collided with the Crimson Raider, which is what caused the sudden stop on the deck. Jarryd had taken a little too long of an observation, and began to run out of breath, he quickly saw up to the bell he had been dragging along, and went into the air pocket it created. He caught his breath for a few moments, but dived back into the deep water immediately after, when he reached the deck of the sunken ship, he began to push on it, attempting to move it, surprisingly enough, it lowered just enough to get the ship moving again. Satisfied with his work, Jarryd grabbed another breath of air, but when he dived back in the clear blue, he stopped in his tracks. 30 yards ahead of him was something he had hoped not to see, an Aumakua.

Aumakua are Grimm that have taken the forms of the sharks of the sea, the sea in Vale was mostly filled with the kind that were based off of Great White's. These Grimm have been the end of many lives that have journeyed out to the water, people that fall off their boats, swimmers, etc. They have teeth sharper than half of the cutlass's that Max had made.

This Aumakua was circling Jarryd at a slow pace, keeping it's eyes on the young boy. Jarryd looked away for a second to grab his sword, and that was when the sea creature made its move, the shark charged right away, and Jarryd looked up just in time to see Razor sharp teeth about 10 feet away, and closing in. He moved his body to the right, just dodging the set of chompers, but this shark was smart, it quickly flicked it's tail into Jarryd's torso before swimming away, knocking the wind out of the pirate. Once Jarryd regained his bearings, he swam back into the air pocket from the bell he was still holding onto, he got back his breath and dived back in, though the Aumakua was nowhere to be seen. He looked to his left and right, but could not find the shark like Grimm anywhere, when he remembered one place he hadn't checked. When he looked down, he saw the beast charging, aiming for his legs, Jarryd quickly swung his blade at the creature, slicing it across the top of the body, making it stop and squirm. Jarryd swam to the level of the squirming Aumakua, and began to slash with one hand, cutting the shark into pieces. Jarryd watched the creature dissolve in front of him, once he made sure the threat was gone, and swam back up into the diving bell to catch some air. Once refreshed, he pulled on the chain of the bell 4 times, and waited for a second, before he felt a tug on the other end, pulling the bell and Jarryd towards the Crimson Raider.

About 2 minutes later, John hoisted his son back onto the ship, and handed the boy a towel to dry himself off, the captain noticed the blood on the blade of Jarryd's sword.

"What in the blue hell was down there…?" His father asked.

"Aumakua, that's what's down there…" Jarryd sighed, still trying to catch his breath from the encounter.

"Oh boy, we should get this done quick" John said, Jarryd just nodded and made his way up to the deck of their ship. Many of the crew asked Jarryd about why he was breathing so heavily he only answered with one word.

"Aumakua" The beast's were Jarryd's biggest fear when he was growing up, he had seen the Grimm devour some of the Red Band's crew mates when they fell off the boat, tearing through the men like a knife through butter, the fact that he just took one head on felt weird to him, like he just shook that fear, but he couldn't worry about that now, they had a mission to get done. Once on the deck, Jarryd took a seat on the front of the ship and waited for the end of the trip up.

 **4 hours later**

Jarryd had fallen asleep for the rest of the voyage, though was quickly awoken by a loud yell from his father.

"Land Ho!" John yelled as loud as he could, making his son's eyes shoot awake and nearly fall out of the chair he was in. He pulled out the electronic map to see that his father was right, they had arrived at their destination, Jarryd pinched his finger on the screen, expecting it to zoom in, but nothing happened, he tried over and over, but had no result.

"We're on our own, the map won't zoom in!" Jarryd yelled back, as the rest of the crew came aboard the deck, and looked to the captain for instructions.

"Everyone get out and search the Island for anything out of sorts" John commanded as the crew lowered a plank of wood down to the island to use as a ramp, Jarryd finally noticed the formation of the island. The small land formation had small yet jagged mountains, and was covered with trees, which explained why Ironwood's army couldn't get anywhere. Jarryd and the crew walked down the ramp and looked at their surroundings, Jarryd turned to the group.

"Alright, everyone get into groups, we'll cover more ground faster" He said as many of the crew members went straight to their friends, Max and Audrey approached Jarryd.

"Is it alright if we head out with you?" Max asked, as Audrey was still too shy to speak up, Jarryd nodded, and pointed towards the forest.

"We're heading in there, we'll come back after an hour or 2 if we don't find anything" Jarryd told the rookies as he walked into the thick brush, Max and Audrey hot on his tail. As the group of 3 walked through the woods using their cutlass's to cut through the thick grass that got in their way, they had walked for about 15 minutes when Max suddenly stopped.

"Can we take a break, my feet are killing me…" The new pirate told the veteran, Jarryd just sighed.

"Alright, just for a few minutes" He agreed as he chopped down a tree in one swipe so Max could sit on the stump, Jarryd decided to try and find out more about the two.

"So how'd you two end up here anyways?" Jarryd asked the siblings, Audrey just shrunk down with a blush, as usual, Max was the one who answered.

"Well, you see our dad and mom were tight on money, and started fighting, they took a lot of their anger out on us….so we left, we met your dad on a port near our town, and he took us in. That's about it…" Max responded, putting his head down a bit, showing the subject was uncomfortable. Jarryd was about to change the subject, when a few roars were heard from the tree's around them, Jarryd drew his sword and so did Max and Audrey, who had seemed to lose all shyness at the noise. The 3 stayed silent for a minute, when 3 Beowolves jumped from the trees at the pirates, 2 were going for Jarryd, the other was aiming for the siblings. Jarryd sidestepped away from the towering beasts, making them crash to the ground, He saw his chance and jumped on one of the Beowolves back, and stabbed his sword into the neck of the beast, making it flail it's arms all over the place, even smacking the other Grimm in the face. Jarryd twisted the blade in the nape of the Beowolf, killing it and making it dissolve into purple smoke. The other creature had recovered from the slap of it's now dead partner, and charged at Jarryd, who threw a water bomb at the ground and the glass sphere exploded, Jarryd raised his hand to command the water coming out and shot it towards the Beowolf, once the stream of water collided with the Grimm, it was sent flying through about 10 trees, killing the beast. Jarryd looked to his right to see Max and Audrey keeping the Beowolf at bay, Max had been distracting it when Jarryd looked around, he noticed several cuts along the Grimm's fur, when Audrey shot towards the beast, slicing straight through it's chest, as it evaporated instantly. Audrey and Max high-fived as Jarryd whistled and got their attention, he was looking at the siblings with a smile, Max smiled back and put a hand behind his head, and Audrey just blushed again.

"Well, that was fun and all, but we're burning daylight, let's head out" Jarryd said, walking off in their original direction, Max and Audrey quickly following behind.

 **Half an hour later**

The group of 3 continued through the forest with no problems at all, no Grimm, no natural obstacles, nothing. They eventually entered a clearing.

"I-I Need to take another break man, I swear my foot just can't take it…" Jarryd turned around and sighed.

"Alright, though I'm gonna have a look around the area so we aren't rudely interrupted again…" The Beacon student replied as Max and Audrey nodded, Jarryd walked off into the woods again, blade at the ready. He began cutting through grass at a rapid pace searching for any Grimm with a smart idea to attack him. He then heard a heavy breath nearby, Jarryd stuck his sword out in front of him, ready to attack anything that jumped out at him, when he heard the breath again from his right. He sneaked through the grass until he got right next to the source of the sound, he raised his sword to strike whatever was waiting for him as he moved the grass next to him, what he saw surprised him.

A woman in a white hood, lying down on the ground, unconscious.

Jarryd was shocked to say the least, for one reason, something Yang had said to him a while ago.

 _Flashback_

 _Jarryd had approached Yang a day before the Beacon dance._

 _"Hey Yang" Jarryd said as Yang looked at him "If you don't mind my asking, what did your and Ruby's mother look like?" Yang visibly flinched at the question "You told me a bit about her during the whole Blake situation, I want to see if you could tell me just a bit more, I really want to know…" Jarryd finished as Yang breathed heavily._

 _"Ok, but only since you're dating my sister…" Yang mentally prepared herself "From what I remember, and the pictures that our dad has, she looks a ton like Ruby, the only real difference is the fact that her hood is white, and that's why Ruby wears her hood, to remember mom. That all you want to know?" Jarryd nodded at Yang's answer._

 _"Yeah...thanks, I know it's gotta be tough to talk on this subject" Yang nodded back at the response and Jarryd punched lightly in the shoulder._

 _"Thanks again sis…"_

" _No problem bro…"_

 _Flashback end_.

And here was a woman, laying in front of Jarryd that was matching the description Yang gave perfectly, Jarryd had to make sure though. He knelt down to the hooded woman and let down her hood enough to see her face, she looked nearly identical to how Ruby looked. Suddenly, the electronic map in Jarryd's pocket started beeping, when he pulled it out, the dot where the island was was flashing, meaning he had found the strange reading. He looked around for a second and picked up the woman into his arms bridal style and ran back to Max and Audrey. When Jarryd arrived, Max was up and moving, and Audrey was pacing around the clearing, Max then noticed Jarryd and the woman he had in his arms.

"Yo…..who's that?" Max pointed to the hooded woman.

"The strange reading…we need to hurry back, now." Jarryd said to the siblings as he ran in the direction they came from, Max and Audrey scurried to catch up. It took about 15 minutes at a full sprint to get back to the beach the crew had landed on, and everyone was there, waiting for results. The entire crew had been sitting on the shore, talking, when John finally noticed his son and the woman he was carrying.

"Um…...who is-"

"The person we were looking for, let's go" Jarryd interrupted and ran onto the ship, his father turned to the crew.

"You heard my boy, let's go!" The rest of the gang shrugged and went onto the ship, Jarryd rushed the mysterious woman into the medical wing of the ship, where a doctor arrived a minute later and checked the woman for injuries.

"She has no visible wounds, though it seems she has been unconscious for quite some time…" The doctor told Jarryd with a smile, he smiled back.

"Good, cause if this is who I think it might be….that'll be great…"

"How so?" The doctor questioned.

"Let's just say they went missing a long time ago, and someone missed them very much…" Jarryd answered with another smile.

"Well, that's grand…"

"How long will she be out for?" He asked the doctor, who held his hand to his chin.

"I have no idea…" Jarryd sighed at the response.

"Keep an eye on her"

"Of course" The doctor replied as Jarryd left the room and walked up to his father, who was getting ready to depart from the island.

"Are we ready?" John turned to his son and nodded.

"Yes, Hoist Anchor!" John yelled to the crew, who immediately got to work, lifting the heavy piece of metal onto the deck, the captain was about to yell again, but the crew already let the sails loose. The ship began to move and Jarryd went to the front of the ship and went to sleep yet again.

 **Jarryd's dream**

 _Jarryd had taken hold of the wheel for the first time at his new position_ , _his father decided to step down from his position as captain of The Red Band, and passed down the honor to his adoptive son. The new captain looked below to the deck to see the rest of the crew, clapping for him, as his father stood to his right side and put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. He then heard a slight cry, and looked over to see Ruby, who looked 10 years older, holding something wrapped in a towel. She was smiling at Jarryd as the towel began to cry, everything seemed perfect. Suddenly, a buzzing sound was heard, making Jarryd wake up._

 **End dream- 2 hours later**

Jarryd's eyes fluttered open as he searched around for the buzzing, when he felt a vibration in his pocket. He reached inside and pulled out his scroll, which said he was getting a video call from Ruby. Jarryd's eyes widened as he read the name and he quickly pressed the button to answer. Ruby's face showed up immediately, and a small corner showing how Jarryd appeared on her side.

"Hey Jarryd!" Ruby greeted her boyfriend from where he could tell was their dorm room, who looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Hey Ruby, good to see your face" He got out in between breaths, Ruby just smiled and nodded.

"Have you guys found what you were looking for?" Ruby asked, still with a smile on her face, Jarryd got up and looked around to see the town that they had docked in on the way up a few miles away from the ship's location, he looked back to Ruby and began walking towards the medical wing.

"Yeah, we did, is Yang in the room with you?" Jarryd asked talking at a rapid pace, making Ruby confused.

"Yeeeaaaah, why?"

"I can you bring her over, the thing we found might be a shock to you 2…." He could see Ruby get nervous as she called Yang over, Jarryd had just entered the medical wing and saw that the woman was still unconscious, in bed.

"Hey bro, wassup?" Yang said to him as she had entered the video with Ruby.

"Ok" Jarryd mentally prepared himself "I'm gonna show you 2 what we found, and I'm not sure you'll believe it…"

"What is it?" Both Yang and Ruby asked at the same time, Jarryd breathed heavily as he turned his camera around, to show the white-hooded woman laying on the bed. There was a heavy silence for about a minute, Jarryd peeked his head around to see the sister's reaction, Ruby and Yang's eyes were wide, Yang's mouth was open. About a minute later, Yang spoke up again.

"Where did you…." Yang started, but couldn't get the rest of her sentence out.

"I found her in the woods on the island, exactly like this, we're heading home as fast as we can…" Jarryd answered, suddenly, the ship shook violently, making Jarryd drop his scroll.

"What's going on!?" Ruby yelled from the other side of the scroll, Jarryd rushed over and picked it up as he heard screaming outside, looking at the 2 as the ship still shook.

"We're under attack by….something!" He yelled back "I'll call you back!" Jarryd shut off his scroll and ran outside. When he stepped into the setting sunlight, he noticed most of the crew, running around and screaming. He then saw Max running around, so Jarryd grabbed a hold of him "Calm down! What the hell's going on!?" Jarryd yelled over all the noise on the ship. Max finally regained his composure and spoke up.

"We aren't entirely sure, we just saw a giant figure below us ram into the boat!" Jarryd let go of Max and ran to the side of the boat, to see exactly what he had described, a gigantic silhouetted figure circling them. Assumptions as to what the thing was was going through Jarryd's head as he said his thoughts out loud.

"It could be one of those Megalodon Aumakua, no no no they went extinct a long time ago...Is some sort of eel, no, it's too big...or is it-" Jarryd was cut off as a small silhouetted wavy line stretching out from the creature "Oh, sonuva bit-" He was cut off again by the figure surfacing from the water, revealing the black body of a giant squid with beady red eyes staring into the soul of every crewmate on board who had witnessed the beast's emergence. Eventually, someone spoke up.

"K-Kraken!" A random crew member screamed as Jarryd drew his sword, the Kraken raised it's tentacles and brought them down on the ship, shaking the entire boat and knocking everyone off balance, the Kraken swung it's tentacle at Jarryd, who regained his balance just in time to avoid the long appendage, the squid brought it's tentacle up and brought it down again, aiming for the pirate. Jarryd sidestepped away from the attack, as the suction cups on the tentacle stuck to the deck of the ship. He saw his opportunity to strike, and slashed, slicing the tentacle off from the rest of the body, the appendage evaporated into thin air as the giant creature whipped its head back in pain. Jarryd saw an opening and took a chance, he ran for one of the nearby cannons, loaded it, aimed at the Kraken and fired at the head of the beast. The cannonball connected, making the Kraken back up farther, the Grimm eventually recovered and swung 4 more tentacles at Jarryd. He tried tracking every long arm at the same time as they all came towards him, Jarryd was able to slice about 2 of the tentacles, until one of the remaining appendages knocked Crimson Fury out of Jarryd's hand, and the other hit him in the stomach, sending him flying to the other side of the boat. He was able to sit up, but not much else, as he looked up, he saw one of the tentacles going straight for him, Jarryd closed his eyes and waited.

'Look's like that's it, huh, what a sucky way to go' Jarryd thought to himself 'Father….Ruby...I'm sorry' He heard the tentacle close it, ready to strangle him, when he heard a sharp slice. Jarryd opened his eyes to see the white hooded woman standing in front of him, wielding a red scythe like Ruby would as the tentacle that was aiming for Jarryd fell to the ground and dissolved. The woman rushed forward as 2 more tentacles went flying her way, she sidestepped to the side as she continued to run, the tentacles stuck to the deck of the Crimson Raider yet again, the hooded woman then jumped on to the tentacle and ran up the creature's arm, slicing it as she ran across. The woman jumped towards the Kraken's face and stuck the blade of her scythe in the creature's skull, she then switched into sniper mode, just like Ruby would do with Crimson Rose, and shot herself off of the beast, killing it and causing it to dissolve into the water, Jarryd was impressed to say the least. He tried to get up to his feet, but could only get on one knee, he looked up to see the hooded woman giving him her hand, he gladly accepted and was pulled onto his feet "Thank you, I thought I was a goner…" Jarryd said as the woman looked at him from under her hood, Jarryd held out his hand this time "I'm Jarryd Starks" The woman took his hand and shook.

"Summer" Was her reply.

 **OH YES I DID!**

 **Ok, I know that might make some people mad and I'm ok with that, it's my story and I do what I want with it.**

 **Also, I Am so sorry for the long wait, several things have kept me from getting this out, Sickness, School, writer's block, and just me being busy in general, but I did make this the longest Chapter yet!**

 **Don't forget to tell me if you want to see the Vytal tournament done, single rounds, or Canon style, I did bring Summer back after all (Yang said she disappeared, her death was never confirmed)**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and I will see you all next time!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Wasup!**

 **Sorry for the holdup, I just got a PS4 and Fallout 4, so that's taken up most of my time, along with school**

 **With convincing from 5waydragon I have decided that the Vytal tournament SHALL be done in my own way.**

 **And a bit this chapter is gonna focus on Summer's reunion with her family, the other part is gonna be**

 **Volume 3 (I'll have to re-watch volume 3 to remember what happens, and how I can fit some of the OC's and Summer into it) And BTW, I am creating more OC's for the tournament.**

 **And I might take a while because something someone said hurt my writing self esteem, so I gave up for a bit**

 **Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own RWBY, Jarryd, John, Max, and Audrey are the only ones that belong to me!**

 **Well, enough chit-chat…..LET'S GET ON WITH IT.**

 **Crimson Raider-next day**

After the fight with the Kraken, Jarryd went to sleep for the rest of the day, the next day the woman named Summer found a place to sit, and to ask Jarryd 2 questions.

"So...how did I get here, and where are we?" Summer asked.

"Ok, this is quite the story, so bear with me here. I was sent on a mission with the crew to go find a disturbance on the military's radar, through some tough waves and Aumakua infested waters later, we arrived. The crew split up to search for the disturbance, then, I found you lying in the grass as my map started to buzz, telling me you were the radar disturbance, so I picked you up and brought you aboard. As to your second question, you're aboard the Crimson Raider, the ship belonging to The Red Band" Jarryd admitted proudly as Summer's eyes went wide.

"The Red Band...you're kidding?" Jarryd shook his head at the new question, Summer smiled "Wow, aren't I lucky" She laughed as it was Jarryd's turn to ask a question.

"Ok, quick question...Do you have a family?" Jarryd questioned as Summer's smile just froze as her eyes went wide again.

"Oh my god, I nearly forgot, I NEED TO GET TO PATCH!" She yelled shoving Jarryd back and forth.

"Calm down!" Summer stopped shaking him at the command "Look, the ship is heading back to Vale, but tell me, what are the names of the people in your family" Summer smiled at Jarryd.

"I have a husband and 2 daughters, My husband's name is Taiyang Xiao Long, I have a brother named Qrow, and my daughter's name's are Yang and Ruby, though Yang is my step daughter." The pirate smiled again, now that he knew the truth.

"They'll be there when we get back." Summer looked at Jarryd with a confused expression.

"How, exactly do you know?" She asked, Jarryd just smirked.

"I know because, I go to Beacon with both of them, I'm on their team." Summer was shocked to say the least, knowing that the man in front of her was both of her daughter's teammate.

"What! Oh my god, my 2 girls got accepted into Beacon. Wait, how did Ruby get in, she's 2 years younger than Yang, wait, how long was I gone!" Summer panicked, Jarryd grabbed her shoulder to calm her down.

"Ruby stopped the robbery of a dust shop, so Ozpin accepted her, and I was told you disappeared when they were 4 or 5, Ruby is 15, Yang is 17" The girl's mother calmed down at the news.

"That's great to hear…"

"Oh, and about Ruby…" Summer looked up to Jarryd as he put a hand behind his head with a sheepish smile "She's….uh...she's my girlfriend…" He winced as he waited for the mother's scorn, but it never came.

"I see...is she happy?" Summer asked as Jarryd opened his eyes again and answered.

"From what I've seen, she's been happier than ever" Summer smiled again and looked Jarryd in the eye.

"Then I support you both,as long as she and you are happy together" Ruby's mother smirked now "Should I be expecting grandchildren any time soon…?" Jarryd blushed so hard that he was redder than his girlfriend's hood.

"NO! Dear Monty, she's only 15!" Jarryd yelled at the top of his lungs, frantically waving his arms back and forth.

"Jeez, just joking….son" Summer teased, Jarryd through his arms up in defeat as the door to the room they were in opened, to reveal John.

"Letting you know that we will arrive in Vale in about an hour" Jarryd's father told the 2, his son got up and ushered his father over to Summer.

"Dad, this is Summer, Ruby's mom. Summer, this is John Starks, my adoptive father." Jarryd introduced the two parents. John held out his hand, which Summer took and shook.

"Nice to meet you, and you **do** know that our kids are d-"

"Dating, I know, your son just told me" Summer responded.

"Well, anyways, we should be docking soon, don't get too comfy." John said.

"Gotcha" His son acknowledged, Jarryd looked to Summer to see her shaking, he had an assumption to as of why "Nervous to see them again?" He asked as Summer nodded her head.

"I just feel so bad...I've left them for so long…" She responded as Jarryd came up with another question.

"I think you'll be ok, and I've been meaning to ask...why did you disappear?" Summer put her hand to her chin as she tried to think.

"I don't exactly know, all I remember is being sent on a mission to the border of Vale and Mistral, I don't remember much else…." Jarryd sighed at the answer, as that was nothing to work with except the border part. Jarryd then got up and went towards the door.

"I should probably help my dad get ready to dock the ship, and I suppose you should get ready too…" Summer nodded again and smiled as Jarryd headed out into the open air. Jarryd walked on to the deck and looked for something productive to do. Jarryd quickly noticed Max sharpening more swords, but he was doing it the way jarryd showed him this time, he then looked to the sword racks to see every sword on there was the right way. Jarryd walked over as Max finished another blade "I see you've taken my advice seriously" Max stopped the grindstone, looked up to his hero and smiled.

"Yeah, once you showed me how to do it, it's been all smooth sailing from there" Jarryd gave a chuckle at the response as he picked up one of the swords on the rack and began lightly swinging it around.

"Good grip, not too heavy or light, feels great to swing….great work." Max's face lit up as pride filled his being at the praise.

"Wow…..thank you, Jarryd"

"No problem, keep it up" Jarryd said with a smile as he walked over to the side of the deck, to see Vale a short while away, he waited here for about 30 minutes as the port came into view. He could eventually make out 6 figures waiting on the pier, since they were the only ship coming into the harbour, he assumed the figures were waiting for them. As they got closer, Jarryd could tell it was Ruby, Yang, Weiss and Blake,who he expected to be there since he had messaged them, though there were 2 men he didn't recognize. One of them was wearing a white jacket and had jet black hair and a stubble of facial hair, and had some sort of weapon on his back. The other man had a brown vest on and had blonde hair like Yang's. Jarryd noticed that they were all looking at the ship, but they hadn't noticed him. Jarryd walked up to where his father was steering the boat and decided to tell him something.

"I bet you're wondering what Ruby's mother was doing on the island?" John looked towards his son with a look of confusion.

"I'm a bit curious, I'll admit" Jarryd sighed as he prepared his explanation.

"Well, you see, her mom had gone on a mission about 10 years ago, and she never came back, she just disappeared...that's why I was kinda in a rush to get back to Vale…" John smiled at his reasoning.

"You want to reunite the family?" Jarryd nodded at the response, as his father ruffled his brown hair "I'm proud of you, boy" John then looked to the city and noticed how close they are "Best be ready, Land Ho!" The captain yelled to the crew on deck, who all turned their heads, nodded and got ready for docking as the ship began to slow to a halt. Jarryd walked back down to the deck of the ship and saw Summer exiting the cabin's with her hood up.

"Take the hood down, your family is gonna want to see your face" Summer nodded and lowered the hood of her cloak, revealing her black and red hair, reminding Jarryd of Ruby's resemblance to her mother. Jarryd felt the ship stop in it's tracks and saw 2 crewmates rush over and lower a ramp down to the docks. He looked to the pier below and saw the group waiting at the end of the ramp, Jarryd breathed in heavily. "Here we go…" He said as he walked down the ramp with his head slightly down. When he reached the end of the ramp, he looked up to see Ruby with her arms tight around him, she then looked up to him with worry in her eyes, Jarryd just smiled as Ruby let go. He turned around to look at the ship, put 2 fingers to his lips and whistled, as Summer came into view and began to walk down the ramp. About halfway down, Summer looked up to see Ruby and Yang looking at her, as tears starting to form in all of their eyes.

"Ruby…..Yang…." Summer said in between sobs, Yang was slightly in shock, so she couldn't say anything, Ruby smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Hi Mom….." Her daughter replied as everyone's heart broke at the scene as Summer finished her walk off the ramp, looked at Ruby, and began to play with her hair.

"You look so grown up…." Tears began to stream down both of their faces as they embraced tightly, this lasted for about a minute before Summer turned to Yang "Yang…." Tears were streaming down her face as well, as she hugged her step-mom tightly.

"Mom…" Yang said, but that was all she could get out as Summer began to stroke her blonde locks.

"Shhh it's okay….I'm back…." The 2 eventually separated as Summer then turned to the 2 unnamed adults Jarryd saw from the ship, she approached the blonde one first.

"Taiyang...it's great to see you again"

"Summer…." The man began to cry "I've missed you so much" The blonde man, who Jarryd could now tell was named Taiyang, said as he pulled her in close "I love you..." Jarryd realized that he was Summer's husband, and Ruby and Yang's father.

"I love you too…" The man with black hair then approached from behind and cleared his throat, causing Summer to turn around.

"Hey..." He said as he approached Summer with a flask in his hand.

"Qrow…." Summer responded as she slapped the flask out of his hand "You haven't changed a bit…" She then wrapped her arms around him as he did the same.

"It's good to see you….and you're buying me another drink after this." He replied to her

"Of course" Summer replied to her long time teammate, though Jarryd, Weiss and Blake had 1 thought on their minds.

' **He's** Qrow?' Summer then gestured to Jarryd

"This is the young man that found me, thank him for me being here.." Jarryd put his hand behind his head in embarrassment.

"It was nothing, just doing my job" Jarryd said with a sheepish smile.

"Also, he and Ruby are dating." This made Jarryd, Ruby, and Taiyang's eyes widen.

"What!" Taiyang yelled at the news, Ruby and Jarryd both looked at each other and blushed, Jarryd saw Ruby's father walk over to him and look him dead in the eye, Jarryd was just praying that he got to live to see the next day, when Summer grabbed a hold of Taiyang's ear and dragged him away from the couple.

"Taiyang! You will not lay a finger on that boy!"

"But he's dating our little girl!" Taiyang cried out.

"I know, and I already approve of it, Ruby is old enough to make decisions on her own." Summer looked to Ruby "Ruby, are you happy with Jarryd?" Summer asked her daughter, Ruby immediately grabbed hold of Jarryd's arm.

"Yes, he has done so much for me, and I would do the same for him…" Ruby answered, giving her father a stern stare, it took a few moments for Taiyang to respond.

"Alright…" Jarryd and Ruby's face lit up at the approval "But if you do anything to hurt my daughter, you're going to get more acquainted with that ocean than you already are! Do you understand?" Her father sternly asked, Jarryd began to nod.

"Of course, sir" He then heard clapping from behind him, and looked up to see the entire crew looking down and clapping at the scene "OH SHUT UP!" He yelled to them, causing everyone to start laughing. Summer then turned to the other 2 members of team RWBY.

"I'm guessing you 2 are also members of Ruby, Yang and Jarryd's team?" Summer asked Weiss and Blake.

"Yes Ms. Summer, Weiss Schnee" Weiss said with a curtsey.

"Just call me Summer" Summer sweatdropped at the formality.

"Blake Belladonna" Blake replied with a nod, when Ruby dragged Jarryd and Yang over to the other 2.

"Together we form Team RWBY!" Ruby yelled raising her hands in the air, Summer was slightly confused.

"What a coincidence, though where does Jarryd's name fit in there?" She asked, as Jarryd smiled.

"I was a late inclusion, so they didn't change the name."

"Oh, that makes more sense" Taiyang then came over and put his hands on Summer and Ruby's shoulders, Yang joined in the embrace as well.

"Let's go home….as a family." Taiyang said quietly to his family as the girls nodded and began to walk off towards patch, Qrow decided to follow,as he was the girl's uncle, leaving Jarryd, Blake, and Weiss alone. The 3 stood there watching the family head off when Weiss finally spoke up.

"Wait, did they just leave us here!?" Weiss asked the other 2, Blake just shrugged and Jarryd put his hand to his chin.

"Well, the tournament's in about 2 days, right?" Both girls nodded "I say we head back to Beacon and do a little practice sparring"

"Sounds good to me." Blake replied as Weiss nodded in approval as they began to walk towards the city, when a sudden yell stopped them.

"Jarryd! Come here for a moment!" Jarryd recognized his father's voice as he looked toward the girls.

"One moment." He said before running towards the Crimson Raider as his father walked down the ramp. When Jarryd reached him, his father held out 2 items, a holster and a revolver.

"This should help you at least a little bit in the tournament." John told his son, handing the two objects to Jarryd, who put the holster around his waist, and placing the second pistol in the new holster, he then grabbed both revolvers and twirled them around.

"Thanks dad, I'll put it to good use." John then reached down and ruffled his hair.

"I know you will, make me proud, son." Jarryd smiled and ran back to the girls.

"What'd your dad need you for?" Blake asked as he caught up, Jarryd then pulled out both revolvers and spun them on his fingers, Blake smiled and nodded as Weiss looked intrigued.

"Another revolver? Why would you need another?" Weiss asked as Jarryd holstered the 2 guns.

"You girls don't have to worry about this, because your firearms are already in your weapon, I don't have that, so in case I get one of my guns knocked out of my hand during a fight, I have a backup." Both girls nodded at the explanation as they worked their way to the landing zone of the airship, when Blake suddenly stopped. Jarryd and Weiss nearly kept going but stopped just in time to see their blake clothed teammate looking at a store sign, which read "Jonah's Entertainment Surplus, Books, Games, Movies and more." The other 2 walked back to Blake and looked at the sign as well. "I'm guessing you want to look inside?" Jarryd asked, Blake nodded in response. "Alright, we can look for a little bit" He replied as the 3 walked into the store.

The store was full of isles, with signs above them to tell what each section had. Blake immediately began to walk towards the isles marked "Books", which Weiss followed, Jarryd decided to check out the movie section, because once every 2 or 3 weeks, the girls of RWBY and JNPR would have a 'movie night' as they called it, leaving Jarryd, Jaune and Ren by themselves, he thought he could grab a movie so they wouldn't be bored while the girls had fun. As Jarryd walked down the aisle, looking at the cover of each movie, a certain cover caught his eye, he walked towards the case and picked it up, it read 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and it had a stereotypical looking pirate on the front, Jarryd frowned.

"Ok, now that's just insulting…" He said aloud as he put the case down and began to look at the other movies, none of the other films really caught his eye, until he got to the end of the isle as another title intrigued Jarryd. He bent down to look at the title 'Predator', he picked up the case and read the back, the movie was about an army in the jungle being hunted down by a killer alien with advanced technology and weapons, he liked the concept and tucked the case under his forearm as he began to walk through the game section. He remembered JNPR had a game console in their room, so they could find another thing to do, as he looked through the games, one title made him sigh, 'Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag' He read from afar, from what he saw on the cover was a cloaked man holding a cutlass standing over a dead naval soldier with a black flag with a skull flying from the side. "Better, but not quite." He said to himself again, he walked along and found another game which the title interested him, 'Heavy Rain' it spelled in bolded italic letters, the cover had 4 people on the front, 3 males and a female. Like the other movie, Jarryd read the back of the case and found out the plot of the game, tracking down a psychopathic serial killer and trying to save one of the characters son. Jarryd picked up the game and walked towards the checkout counter, where a young man was sitting behind it, Jarryd put the two cases on the counter as the man looked them over.

"Is this all, sir?" The cashier asked as Jarryd nodded his head, the employee began to scan both cases as the total cost came up on a monitor. "That'll be 35 Lien, sir" Jarryd reached his wallet in his back pocket and took out as much money as needed and paid.

"Have a good day" Jarryd told the employee, who smiled as Jarryd waited at the entrance of the store for his 2 female teammates, he waited for about 5 more minutes until Blake and Weiss approached him, Blake had a book in her hand, the newest 'Ninjas of Love' book, she had been reading the series for as long as Jarryd could remember. "Ready to go?" Both girls nodded as they left the store and walked towards the airship back to Beacon. About 10 minutes later, the 3 arrived at the ship and entered the machine, which almost immediately took off. Blake already was reading her novel as the ship flew through the air, making the other 2 wonder how she never got motion sick. Weiss was staring out the window and Jarryd was looking over the 2 newly bought cases, this continued for a bit before Weiss looked back to the other 2.

"Did you hear that they are running the tournament in a different style this year?" Weiss asked them, Jarryd shook his head at the news, Blake looked away from her novel.

"Only single rounds instead of team rounds, interesting to say the least." Blake commented, Jarryd was intrigued, he was told that the tournament would start off with the entire team, then two of them, then down to one.

"Why the change?" He asked, Weiss just shrugged.

"Probably for fun, or just a test to see how it goes." She assumed, Blake's eyes went back to her book.

"Or it could be a cash grab scheme, allowing people to see the top fighters go head to head, 1 on 1." Blake said almost accusingly.

"Well, whatever the means, we'll have to deal with it" He replied as his mind trailed off to a few people who he wondered if they would compete in the tournament. He thought of the 3 he met a few days before his mission, Andrew, Jackson, and Irene, they said they were second year students at Atlas, so it was a possibility. Or Penny, she said she was 'Combat ready' as she would say, she seemed determined to fight, but she never said she was associated with a combat school, so he wasn't sure if she was eligible. After a while, the 3 felt the ship land, Weiss looked out the window again to make sure they were at Beacon, which they were. Jarryd was the first to walk outside and stretch his limbs, Blake and Weiss quickly followed, the shortened team then walked to their dorm to drop off the newly bought items. On the way there, Jarryd saw Professor Ozpin walking down the hall towards them, the group stopped in front of the headmaster.

"Mr. Starks, I heard your mission was quite the success…" Ozpin grabbed his hand and shook lightly, Jarryd began to chuckle.

"I would say it was a bit more than a success" Ozpin also giggled and reached into his back pocket, pulling out a pouch filled with Lien.

"This is Ironwood's pay for your troubles" Jarryd grabs the bag from Ozpin's hand and feels the weight of it, which was quite heavy, Jarryd's eyes widened at how heavy it was.

"There has to be about, 100 Lien in this thing at least!"

"126 Lien to be exact…" The 3 teammates jaws dropped at the number "By the way, the bracket for the tournament should be in your room." Ozpin said as he left down the hallway again. The 3 students rushed toward their dorm room to see who each of them would be facing, and how the fact that there were 5 of them would work. Once they reached the door, Weiss fumbled around with the room keys before finally gaining control and unlocking the room, once inside, Jarryd and Blake threw their stuff on their beds and rushed over to Weiss who had found the bracket on a piece of paper with 4 different brackets on it. The 3 frantically searched for their names, which they found on different brackets except for one, Ruby was in the first bracket, Yang in the second, Weiss and Jarryd in the 3rd, and Blake in the 4th bracket. Weiss, Blake, and Jarryd then looked to see who they would fight, Weiss was going to be fighting Cardin, no question as to who would win that, Jarryd was fighting a student from Haven named Nick Blackwood, and Blake was going against a student from Mistral named Amanda Jayden. They didn't look at Ruby and Yang's opponents because they weren't there.

"Well, we already know Weiss is moving on…" Jarryd said with a slight nod, the 2 girls did the same.

"I have no idea who the people you 2 are facing are though" Weiss responded to him, as they replied with a shrug, when Jarryd's scroll buzzed, he opened it up and saw it was a message from Ruby.

 _"We should be back tomorrow….Thanks again for finding our mom."_ The message read, Jarryd smiled as he typed back.

 _"No problem, we just go the bracket for the tournament"_ He looked to the paper to find who they were fighting _"Yang is fighting Mercury, and you are fighting someone named Ross Nelson, no clue who they are though, the tournament is being done in 4 different single brackets, since we have 5 people, Weiss and I are in the same bracket."_

 _"Alright! Cool! I'll make sure to tell Yang, love ya, see you tomorrow!"_ Ruby replied with a heart symbol at the end, Jarryd smiled and closed his scroll, he then looked to the females in the room.

"Ruby says they'll be back by tomorrow." Both girls nodded again as Jarryd looked at the brackets again, and 3 names caught his eye, Andrew Blink, Irene Chamelian, and Penny Polendina, Jarryd now knew those 3 were in the tournament, but Jackson's name was nowhere to be found, this confused the pirate as to why he wasn't on the brackets, but then he remembered that Jackson could still be in the hospital as he recovered from whatever was wrong with him again.

"Should we head down to the training room?" Weiss asked, the other 2 just nodded and walked out the door, 3 minutes later, the 3 reached the training room and walked up to the empty ring.

"Alright...who goes first."

"Weiss and I'll spar first." Blake volunteered, Weiss shrugged as they both stepped into the ring. The 2 woman stepped to opposite sides of the arena, Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster and pulled it right up against her cheek, Blake did the same for Gambol Shroud, but kept the blade at her side. Jarryd began the countdown.

"3…" Both girls eyes squinted at each other. "2…" They placed one foot forward, ready to charge. "1…" Their hands clinched tight. "Go!" Blake and Weiss ran towards each other with what seemed like loathing in their eyes, then, their blades interlocked. Blake pushed Weiss away from the interlock as she turned Gambol Shroud into pistol form and started firing, Weiss dodged the rubber bullets and plunged her rapier into the floor, forming an ice glyph and sending it towards her faunus attacker. Blake sidestepped just in time to avoid the glyph, but was met with a quick series of slashes from Weiss, Blake was sent towards the edge of the ring and recovered her balance and rushed forward with her sword out, Weiss thrusted forward to catch her teammate off guard, but Blake used her shadow clones to jump over the heiress and get in a few good slices, Weiss eventually began to block the strikes again, and the 2 blades were interlocked again. Weiss did a backflip to escape, landed gracefully and summoned a glyph that sent her flying forwards at high speeds, Blake narrowly dodged once again as Weiss hit the ropes of the arena, when Weiss turned around, Blake kicked Myrtenaster out of the arena, causing Jarryd to call an end to the spar.

"Nice work, Blake, you too Weiss." They both nodded as they began their recovery break, Weiss retrieved her sword as Blake sat down.

"You fought well, Weiss" Blake told her white haired teammate, who smiled and nodded. 5 minutes later, Jarryd walked up to the ring. "Wanna go for another, Blake?" Jarryd asked, Blake nodded as she had recovered her strength. Blake walked up to the ring as both combatants unsheathed their swords, Weiss walked up to the 2, beginning the countdown.

"3...2….1….go!" Jarryd stayed still as Blake began to charge him, she swung her blade overhead towards Jarryd, who sidestepped and sliced Blake on the side, Blake turned around and tried to catch him off guard, he blocked all of the strikes, until Blake went for his legs and scratched his left leg. Jarryd stumbled back a little bit, but recovered just in time to block another oncoming series of strikes from Blake. Gambol Shroud and Crimson Fury engaged in a power struggle as sparks began to fly from the katana and cutlass, Jarryd eventually forced Blake away and quickly twisted off the cap of one of his water bombs, as he didn't want to waste glass on a practice spar, and spilled the water on the ground, Blake's eyes widened as she assumed what would happen next. Jarryd hovered his hand over the spilt water and extended his hand, expanding the puddle, Jarryd then brought his hand up, causing the water to rise, Jarryd then thrust his arm forward, sending a stream of water flying towards Blake. Blake dodged for as long as she could, and even tried to slice through the water with Gambol Shroud, Jarryd unholstered one of his revolvers and shot the blade of the katana, sending it flying out Blake's hand, and thus the arena, ending the match. Blake smiled as she went to retrieve her weapon.

"Nice work" Was all she said to her male teammate.

"Thanks" Jarryd replied with a nod as they went to take another 5 minute break, to get his aura back in check, and refill his ammo. Pretty soon, the break ended. "Weiss, let's do this" She nodded as both of the student's headed up to the ring. Weiss and Jarryd both planted themselves on their sides of the arena as Blake walked up to begin the countdown, but didn't even bother.

"Go…" Was all she said, making Jarryd turn to her, confused.

"I'm sorry what?" Jarryd didn't get time for a response, as Weiss used one of her glyphs to rush forward towards the pirate, Jarryd barely saw the attack and side-stepped just in time to avoid being stabbed. Jarryd began his series of swipes at the white-haired girl, who began to spin around to avoid the attacks, Weiss then summoned another glyph, using fire dust to shoot a torrent of flames at the boy who lived at sea. Jarryd ducked under the fire and charged towards Weiss, as the 2 began engaging in a series of slashes that were all either blocked or parried. Jarryd kicked at Weiss, allowing him to retreat a little bit and unholster his 2 revolvers and aim the pistols at the heiress. Weiss summoned a wall of ice to block the now oncoming bullets, the rubber bullets embedded themselves into the wall of thick ice. Weiss lowered the ice wall after 12 bullets hit the barrier, Weiss noticed there was an empty spot where Jarryd was standing before, Weiss had no time to process what happened as Weiss was struck in the side by a quick kick from Jarryd. Jarryd then brought Crimson Fury above his head and swung down, only for Weiss to block the attack with Myrtenaster, Jarryd noticed the water puddle from the last spar and put one hand behind his back to raise the water without Weiss noticing. Jarryd brought his hand to his side as the sound of rushing water sounded off in both of their ears. Weiss looked to the side, only to be hit by the stream of water and sent flying out of the arena, ending the fight.

"Nice work." Blake stated as Jarryd looked to her, slightly in anger.

"How bout you give a countdown next time." Jarryd told her as she only shrugged, Weiss eventually got back to the 2 after recovering from the blast of water, Blake and Jarryd noticed her hair and outfit were very wet, and had a sour look on her face. Weiss marched up to the one who hit her with the water and pointed her finger at him.

"I'll get you back for that" Jarryd put up his hands in defense as they all sat down on a nearby bench for a rest.

"So, you girls think you're ready for the tournament?" The male of the group questioned the other 2.

"I feel good about it, I just have to do better than today." Weiss responded.

"I'm good." Was Blake's answer, Jarryd nodded at both responses, when they heard footsteps approach. The 3 turned towards the source of the noise and saw Professor Ozpin.

"Professor." Jarryd acknowledged the headmaster's presence.

"Hello Mr. Starks, Ms. Schnee, Ms. Belladonna" The students nodded as Ozpin looked to Jarryd "I'm afraid I'll have to borrow Mr. Starks for a while, it's a private matter." Jarryd looked to the girls, who shrugged. Jarryd got up and began to follow Ozpin out of the room, Ozpin turned back to the monochrome pair. "He'll be back in the evening." After the statement, the 2 left the room.

"So, what's this 'private matter'?" Jarryd asked his higher-up. Ozpin looked to the boy.

"Ironwood asks one more thing of you…"

"And this thing is?" Jarryd urged Ozpin to continue.

"He wants you to help interrogate Roman Torchwick, since you are most familiar with his schemes." Jarryd's eyes widened slightly.

"Wow, he trusts me with a 3 day mission, and now the interrogation of a master criminal" He bumped Ozpin's arm "I think he's starting to like me." Ozpin chuckled at the joke as they made their way to a nearby airship to get to Ironwood's location. Jarryd and Ozpin sat opposite of each other in silence. The ride lasted about 15 minutes as the airship landed at a floating sanctuary.

"Follow me" Ozpin told Jarryd, who did as told and followed Ozpin throughout the complex, Jarryd saw many rooms, which inside looked like prison cells. The Professor then stopped in front of a room with a gray door, Ozpin opened the door and gestured inside. Jarryd walked in and was met by a smiling General Ironwood.

"Mr. Starks, thank you for joining us." Ironwood held out his hand for Jarryd to shake, which he accepted.

"No problem, I was surprised that you invited me up here."

"You know the most about what this dirtbag was planning, I think you'll have some questions that we would never think of." Ironwood looked to his right, revealing Torchwick, handcuffed, sitting at a table, behind glass. Jarryd nodded and went towards the door to where Torchwick was.

"Wish me luck." Both Ironwood and Ozpin nodded back as Jarryd took a deep breath, and entered the room. When Jarryd shut the door, Torchwick looked up at the boy and smiled.

"Ahoy there matey! I'm guessing you're here to make me talk now?" Jarryd squinted his eyes at the insult.

"Yes actually, and I'm gonna ask you some simple questions, all I need are some simple answers."

"Y'know, my nose hurt for a while after you socked me there, why should I answer these questions?" Roman closed his eyes with a smirk, but quickly opened them as he heard a click, when he opened his eyes, he was staring down the barrel of one of Jarryd's revolvers.

"If you don't, your crime ring will be over" Jarryd inched closer "Permanently" Torchwick put his hands up.

"Ok ok ok, you made your point." Jarryd holstered his pistol and put his elbow on the table.

"Good, first question, why were you trying to bring Grimm to the city, what was the goal of it?"

"Vale's too boring, I just wanted to spice up life a little bit." Jarryd could tell Roman was hiding the truth with the smug smile that was on his face.

"Is that all…? Because I find it hard to believe that you set a bunch of beasts out into crowded streets just for a little fun!" Jarryd screamed in Roman's face, Torchwick backed up a little bit at the yell.

"Geez kid, no need to get your undies in a bunch" Torchwick joked, Jarryd was ready to kill the man, but held his emotions back. He thought of another question to ask the crime lord.

"So why exactly are you working with the White Fang?" Jarryd relaxed a bit.

"I'm gonna tell you what I told your kitty cat friend of yours, it's a joint business venture." Roman answered.

"So what business are you doing?"

"Isn't that obvious, robbing dust shops man, I thought you knew."

"Alright, I'm gonna ask you 2 more questions" Torchwick nodded smugly "Why have you been specifically robbing dust shops?" Jarryd put both of his hands on the table Roman was sitting at.

"Well kid, you know how useful of a resource dust is, it just makes my job easier." Jarryd could tell he was hiding the whole truth again, and he was beginning to lose his temper.

"That's bullcrap and you know it! Tell me the truth. Now!" Jarryd yelled in his face, spitting on Roman's white suit.

"Sorry kid, that's all I can tell you…" Torchwick said with no emotion, Jarryd calmed down a bit before asking his final question.

"Ok, last question, do you have any connections with the woman that broke into the CCT tower on the night of the Beacon dance?" Roman visibly flinched as his eyes slightly widened.

"I-I-I have no Idea w-what you're talking about, k-kid…." Roman told him with a nervous smile, Jarryd had a smug smirk on his face at the man's nervousness.

"Oh, I think you might...now spill, Torchwick." Roman winced at the anger in the boy's voice.

"I swear, I don't know anything!" Torchwick began to sweat.

"What about the chest piece that appeared on the CCT screens after the woman left?!" Jarryd inched his head closer. "Are there more groups involved than you and the White Fang!?"

"Yes! But I'm sworn to secrecy!" Roman began to plead, Jarryd just backed up and smiled.

"That's all I needed to know, thanks Roman…" Jarryd began to walk towards the door to the other room, he turned back to Torchwick before he got to the door. "Oh, and a reminder…" Torchwick looked up "Call me 'Matey' one more time, and you won't live to see another interrogation." Roman nodded his head quickly. Jarryd walked out of the room, being met by Ironwood and Ozpin. "Well, that didn't exactly go as planned." The 2 adults in the room smiled, Ironwood approached the boy.

"Torchwick finds a way to irritate anybody, so this result is very common, except the part where he cowers in fear" The general said with a laugh, Jarryd put his hand behind his head, embarrassed at his outburst. "I have to admit, I was wrong about you when we first met, you're a good kid." Ironwood held out his hand, which Jarryd shook.

"I feel the same way, General" Ozpin then walked up to the 2.

"I think we had ought to head back." Jarryd nodded and looked at Ironwood one more time.

"Contact me if you need anything else." Ironwood nodded as Jarryd and Ozpin left the room. The headmaster and student walked down the hall in silence, they reached the airship and sat in the same spots they rode in on the way up. Ozpin looked up to Jarryd, who had his head down.

"You seem to have quite the vendetta against Torchwick." Ozpin stated with a small smile. Jarryd was still looking at the ground.

"You can say that again…" Ozpin couldn't see his student's facial expression.

"I can understand why you lost your temper with Roman, he has the ability to get under people's skin"

"Yeah, I bet that's his semblance." Both of them slightly laughed at Jarryd's joke as the younger male finally looked up. The 2 stayed in silent for the rest of the trip, 15 minutes later the ship touched down, as Jarryd was getting off, Ozpin spoke up.

"Good luck in the tournament, Mr. Starks" Jarryd smiled.

"Thanks professor." Jarryd nodded and began to walk around the Beacon campus for a breather, as he was walking, he had a strange feeling he was being watched. The air seemed to change direction as Jarryd heard footsteps from the top of Beacon, when Jarryd looked, he saw something that frightened him. Standing on top of the school was the man in the black and purple coat and hood from the alley in downtown Vale. Jarryd stood frozen as the man jumped down to the courtyard below and seemed to look him directly in the eye, even though his face was covered.

"We meet again….Jarryd Starks." Jarryd backed up and unsheathed his sword, his hands were shaking from the menacing tone of the man's deep voice.

"What do you want?" Jarryd asked the man, who began to slowly approach.

"I told you before...I want to test you until you are ready." The man kept approaching as Jarryd was backing up to keep the distance.

"Ready for what?!" Jarryd yelled. The stranger kept approaching, keeping both arms at his sides.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me…" The man outstretched his metal arm, trying to reach for Jarryd's sword.

"If you want me to be ready for something, you should probably tell me what to be ready for!" Jarryd had enough, and rushed forward, cutlass above his head, he swung at the dark-coated man, who sidestepped. Jarryd learned from their first encounter and used his free hand to punch the man in the stomach, though instead of falling over, the man stood unfazed.

"So far, better than our first encounter…" Jarryd got angry at the man's comment, and began to furiously slash at his opponent, who began dodging and countering with his metal arm. "To be ready for what's coming, you need to learn to control your anger...it will do you well…" The man pushed Jarryd back a few feet as he fell down, but quickly got back up. Jarryd thought about the man's advice and gave it a try, he took a deep breath and readied his sword again. Once again he charged, but kept his focus. He attacked the same way, with a downward slash, the man grabbed the blade of Crimson Fury, Jarryd knew what to do though, he smacked away the metallic hand and slashed the man across the chest. The man jumped back just in time, but a cut appeared across the trench coat of the stranger. The man ran his metallic hand over the cut. "Nice work…" Jarryd smirked at the stranger's praise and dumped out some of the water from one of his canisters, he then raised up his hand, sending the water up with him, he then split the water into 4 separate floating masses. Jarryd thrust his hand forward, sending the water flying towards the man, but once it reached the stranger, the water stopped, without the man doing anything. Jarryd was confused as to how this happened.

"How did you do that?" He asked, the man's facial expression stayed the same.

"A secret I cannot reveal yet…" He answered, making Jarryd groan.

"Jeez, how many secrets do you have?"

"Far too many…" The man began to leave the campus, going towards the edge of the floating school.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!" Jarryd yelled as the man stopped at the edge, turned around, and gave Jarryd a small smile.

"We will meet again, I promise you…" The stranger then jumped off of the edge towards the water below, Jarryd rushed over and looked over the edge, but to his surprise, the man wasn't there falling, nothing was there.

"Damn…" Jarryd cursed as he got mad at himself for letting the stranger get away, when he turned around, he saw a piece of paper.

" _Keep this matter secret from your friends"_ the paper said in a cursive font. _"And I will tell you one thing, look out for a man with red hair."_ The note said at the bottom.

"A man with red hair" Jarryd said to himself "The hell does that mean?" He asked nobody in particular. Jarryd stood thinking about the encounter and then decided to sleep on the matter. He walked up to his team's dorm room, and opened up to see Weiss and Blake talking. The 2 looked to him as he shut the door.

"What did Ozpin need you for?" Blake asked as she and Weiss anticipated an answer.

"I'm not sure you're gonna like this" Both girls cocked their eyebrows "Ironwood brought me up to interrogate Roman Torchwick" The girl's eyes widened.

"What!?" They both yelled, making Jarryd flinch.

"Not so loud, you'll wake up everybody, and nobody likes to be woken up, especially when you're on a boat." He joked, Blake began to approach the pirate.

"What did you ask that bastard?" Blake asked, gritting her teeth.

"I asked why he attracted Grimm to the city, why he was working with the White Fang, why he was targeting dust shops, and if he knew the woman who broke into the CCT Tower, the other questions he refused to answer, but that question he obviously knows, but he says he's 'Sworn to secrecy'" Jarryd answered, looking away from Blake. Both girls sighed.

"That doesn't really get us anywhere" Weiss responded.

"Actually it does get us somewhere, we know that the person who broke into CCT are allies."

"That may be true, but unless we know the identity of the woman, we can't find out anything else." Blake argued, Jarryd just sighed.

"Well, we should probably get well rested, we have a big day ahead of us soon." Both girls nodded as the 3 went off to bed. Jarryd couldn't sleep for long as his mind was flooded by what the note said.

"Look out for a man with red hair….who could that guy have been talking about?" Jarryd thought about people he knew who had red hair. "Did he mean Torchwick? I doubt it, but it is possible...Does Pyrrha have something to do with it, no, why would I have to be careful of her." It was all too confusing for the boy as Jarryd shut his eyes and was finally able to sleep.

 **Next day**

Jarryd began to stir as he felt something on top of him, he felt something running along his face. He opened his eyes to see a lump of grey fur, licking his face, Jarryd recognized the lump of fur.

"Hey Zwei…" Jarryd said to the puppy, who began to jump on Jarryd's chest.

"That's one way to get you up, sleepy" He looked to the side to see both Yang and Ruby standing over his bed.

"Hey girls...how was the family reunion?" Ruby approached Jarryd, who was still laying down, and gave him a quick peck on the forehead.

"It was amazing...It felt great to actually speak to mom, instead of talking to her grave and looking like I'm crazy" The young girl put her hand behind her head in embarrassment. Jarryd swung his legs around and pushed himself out of bed.

"Well, 1 more day till the tournament…"

"Yep, Mom, Dad, and Uncle Qrow will be there to watch us kick butt!" Ruby said, punching the air. Yang and Jarryd quietly laughed at her antics. Jarryd looked out the window and saw how bright it was.

"What time is it anyway." Yang looked at the clock in their room.

"About 11, why?" Jarryd's eyes widened.

"Jeez, I woke up late...that explains why you 2 are back." Yang put a hand on his shoulder.

"Jarryd….thank you for finding her...it means so much to not just Ruby and I, but our dad and uncle as well…"

"As I said before, I was just doing my job as a huntsman in training" Jarryd yawned. Ruby then walked up to him.

"Hey Jarryd…" He turned around to look at his girlfriend. "Since the tournament is coming up...I was hoping you could teach me to be….a strategy person?" Ruby asked nervously.

"First, the term is strategist, and second, sure but why?" Jarryd responded.

"Well, you seem to know how to defend against everything, and always have a plan...and I kinda want to do that too." She admitted, Jarryd chuckled at bit.

"I admit, it's a very useful skill" He ruffled his girlfriend's hair "Alright, let's head down to the training area." With that, Jarryd walked out the door, with Ruby right behind him. Yang looked at the couple walking out of the room as she whispered to herself.

"You got yourself a great guy, Rubes…" 5 minutes later, Jarryd and Ruby arrived at the training room, Jarryd took a seat on a nearby bench, Ruby still followed, sitting right next to him.

"Alright…" Jarryd unsheathed his sword. "So, the first thing you're gonna want to do is size me up." Ruby's head cocked to the side, not understanding what he meant, Jarryd sighed. "Look at my weapons and clothing."

"Okay…." Ruby wondered why she had to do this. She looked at the sword he was holding in 1 hand, and his 2 pistols in their holsters. "Wait, when did you get a second gun?"

"Yesterday, but that's not the point, so…. What do you know about cutlass's?" Ruby put a finger to her chin.

"Well, I know they are usually light and are usually held in one hand." Jarryd smiled at her answer.

"Exactly, so I probably won't use a lot of heavy strikes, so I'll use many light attacks." Ruby then looked back up.

"And for your guns, revolvers are very powerful, but have little ammo and take a long time to reload, but with 2, you get double the amount of shots."

"I don't know why I'm telling you this, you seem to already know." Jarryd chuckled.

"And as for your clothing…." She examined his attire, with his black, short sleeve over shirt, bandana, and black sweatpants. "It's mostly lightweight, which I assume allows you to more faster and more free."

"Bingo, so what do you think I would try to do in a fight between us." Ruby rubbed her chin again.

"I think you would probably try and stay in close range, because you can strike quick and often, and easily dodge strikes." Ruby began to process the situation in her head. "So my best bet to win would be to keep the fight at a distance!"

"Precisely, and you're weapon is perfect for that, as the scythe has a long range, and the sniper is self explanatory. Though, what would you do if I unholstered my 2 guns." Jarryd anticipated her answer, as she was fairly good at this.

"I should close the gap and attack, since you can't block with your sword."

"Bravo!" Jarryd rustled her hair again. "Now, step into the arena, I'm gonna start up a simulation, spawning a virtual opponent with a random set of weapons and armor." Ruby breathed heavily and nodded, walking towards the arena, Jarryd walked over towards the simulation console. "I'm gonna give you 30 seconds to size them up." Jarryd typed on the console keyboard, as right in front of Ruby, spawned a hologram shaped like a human. The hologram held a morning star and had heavy metal armor. Ruby began to analyze her virtual opponent.

'It has a morning star, a one handed weapon, allowing for quick swings, but it wears heavy armor, sacrificing speed for durability' Ruby thought in her head, very quickly the 30 seconds were up.

"Go!" Jarryd yelled as he pressed the button to start the hologram. Ruby charged forward, scythe at the ready, the hologram slammed its morning star towards the ground, right in Ruby's path. Ruby sidestepped, avoiding the attack, and slashing upwards, sending the hologram backwards, Ruby charged forward again, this time, the hologram swiped his weapon horizontally. Ruby saw the attack, and slid under the holograms legs. The hologram slowly turned around as Ruby regained herself and slashed the virtual man across the chest, the hologram stumbled again as Ruby kept up her attack, she kept slashing the hologram quickly and efficiently, eventually causing the hologram to disappear. "Awesome! You have this down pat."

"Thanks!" She yelled to Jarryd as she walked out of the arena.

"Well, I think you're good enough for now, I think you're ready for the tournament."

"That's good, seeing as the first round's tomorrow." Ruby said as the couple headed back to their dorm room, when they opened the door, they saw Yang talking to Weiss and Blake. When the 2 closed the door, the others noticed them.

"Well, I think we're all ready for the tournament." Jarryd told the girls.

"Yeah! I've been waiting forever for this!" Yang yelled, jumping with her fist raised in the air, the other girls nodded.

"Yes, let's do this!" Ruby put her hand in between everyone, which they also put there hands in. "1, 2, 3!" They all raised their hands to the sky.

"Banzai!"

 **The next day.**

"Would all students competing in the Vytal Tournament please meet in the arena." The voice of Professor Port said over the loudspeaker.

"Well, I think that's our cue." Jarryd said, turning to the group.

"Alright, we'll see you back up in the stands in a little bit." Summer said to the team as she gave her daughters hugs.

"See you in a bit, Mom!" Ruby yelled to Summer as Team RWBY walked inside the arena and Summer and Taiyang went upstairs. When the team reached the middle of the stadium, they saw all of the other students competing in the tournament, and there were a lot of him.

"Wow, that's a lot of people." Yang said with somewhat widened eyes, the other students were talking to the members of their teams, and some others talked to others competing against them.

"Yeah, this is almost ridiculous." Weiss commented as the loudspeaker came on again.

"Welcome all to the 40th annual Vytal Tournament!" Everyone in the shut up at Port's voice. "Down below, we have the best students Remnant has to offer!"

"That's right, Peter, we have some of the best talent the world has ever seen right before us." The hyper voice of Doctor Oobleck said at his usual rapid pace. "But this tournament is different than the other years, as this tournament is only 1 on 1 battles only, so there can only be one victor, so students of the same team may need to face each other." Every competitor looked at their own team and the other challengers. "The basic dueling rules will apply, having your aura hit the red area on your meter, being knocked out of the arena, or having your weapon knocked out will result in elimination!" Oobleck spat into his microphone.

"The students may head back into the stands as of now, except for those in our first match, Jaune Arc of Beacon VS Nox Ortus of Vacuo!" Team RWBY looked over and saw Jaune shaking in his boots, Jarryd walked over and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry man, you've got this." Jaune looked over to him.

"Y-Y-Y-Yeah, t-thanks Jarryd." Everyone saw Jaune turn a ghostly white as they left the arena and up to where Summer and Taiyang were sitting. When RWBY made it to where the parents were, the only 2 in the arena was a shaking Jaune, and a boy with a black hoodie, and dark jeans, equipped with a black bow and arrow.

"S-S-So…." Jaune started, the other boy said nothing and took an arrow out of the quiver on his back. Jaune nervously unsheathed his sword and grabbed his shield.

"3...2…" Jaune gulped as the boy, who he figured out was his opponent, Nox Ortus, pulled back on his bow string. "1.." The arena began to form into a forest. "Go!" Professor Port yelled as Nox aimed at Jaune and let go of the string, sending the arrow flying his way. Jaune freaked out and ran away from the sharp tip flying towards his face, he continued to run around the wooded area, concealing himself in the brush. Nox looked around, having no idea where his opponent hid himself, until he heard a battle cry from behind him, Nox turned to see Jaune running at him full force with his eyes closed. Jaune swung down towards his opponent, who rolled behind him to avoid the sword. Nox aimed another arrow at Jaune, who panicked and stood frozen, Nox let go of the string, sending the arrow flying. Jaune acted on instinct, swinging his sword randomly, which ended up slicing the arrow in half, Jaune opened his eyes to see the piece of wood and steel fall to the ground.

"Woah…" Jaune stared in awe at his sword, amazed at what he just did accidentally, when he looked up, he noticed Nox was gone. "Oh great." He whispered to himself as he looked at all of the surrounding trees in the area, trying to get a clue as to where his opponent was. Jaune was still looking around as an arrow was shot from the brush behind him, Jaune heard the whizzing of the arrow and dodged, Jaune turned around, though no more arrows flew from that direction. Instead, another arrow came flying out of a bush to his right, Jaune narrowly avoided the projectile as more arrows were sent his way at an even faster rate. Jaune tried his hardest to avoid all of the arrows, but ended up with scratches on his arms and legs, Jaune fell to the ground trying to avoid yet another arrow being shot from an unknown location, when he got himself up he noticed another arrow flying towards his torso. Jaune tried to brace himself for the arrow to hit, but it never came. Jaune opened his eyes to see that he wasn't hit, in fact, he wasn't standing in the same spot as he was when the arrow was coming towards him.

"Did he just…." Weiss started from the stands, in shock at what she just saw.

"I think he just did…" Yang said, equally in awe at the event before their eyes, over with the other members of Team JNPR, the other 3 team members had widened eyes at what Jaune just did.

"Did Jaune just do that!?" Nora yelled out loud.

"I'm confused, how in the world did that just happen?" Ren looked to Pyrrha for an answer, the 2 noticed the smile on her face.

"I think Jaune just unlocked his semblance…" Back down to the fight, Jaune was looking at his body, wondering what just happened, Nox wasted no time though, he fired another arrow at Jaune, who tensed up again as he saw the arrow nearly reached him, this time he kept his eyes open, before the arrow hit, he saw a flash of bright blue coming from his body, Jaune noticed again he was in a different location than before. Jaune finally figured out what was going on. He teleported. Jaune gasped as he realized what was happening, this was his semblance. Jaune somewhat smiled, he had finally figured out what his semblance was, Jaune looked up and saw 2 more arrows flying his way, he focused again, and teleported with a flash of bright blue, though he didn't reappear in the open space. Nox looked around, trying to find where his opponent has gone. He felt hard metal hit his back at a fast speed, he was sent tumbling into the open space, Nox looked up to see Jaune holding his shield in one hand, sword in the other. Nox quickly fired another arrow, but Jaune teleported behind Nox and began to slash at him, Nox was getting hit pretty hard, he could see his aura down near the yellow as Jaune was slightly higher than him. Nox eventually got himself up, but was met with a shield to the chin, sending Nox flying into the air. Jaune then teleported above Nox and slammed him again with his shield straight down, Nox hit the ground hard as his aura went into the red. The buzzer sounded as Jaune looked at the board.

"The winner is Jaune Arc!" Port announced over the microphone as the stadium erupted in applause, Jaune began to shake and smile at the claps from the audience. Jaune then exited the arena as Nox got himself back up and was helped off by medics. Professor Port announced the next round of fighters as Jaune made his way up to his team, when he reached his friends, he was immediately glomped by Nora.

"That was amazing, Jaune!" Jaune rubbed the top of his head nervously.

"Oh, it was nothing…"

"I was rather impressed, Jaune, you seemed to handle the situation well." Ren added on.

"You did very well, Jaune, and you seemed to unlock your semblance." Pyrrha said with a smile, Jaune sat down and smiled as well.

"To be honest, I have no idea how I did that." Jaune also looked over to see the members of Team RWBY giving him thumbs up. The next 2 rounds went by fairly quick, as nobody any of the members of RWBY knew had taken the stage yet. Port then announced the next match.

"Next up, Ruby Rose of Beacon VS Ross Nelson of Mistral!" Ruby sighed as she got up.

"Wish me luck…" She said, a tiny bit nervous.

"Don't worry, you've got this Rubes." Yang told her sister, attempting to comfort her.

"Good luck." Blake and Weiss said at the same time.

"You can do this Ruby" Jarryd said while giving his girlfriend a peck on the cheek, earning a small glare from Taiyang. "I believe in you, and remember what I taught you." Ruby nodded at her boyfriend's encouragement, she then turned to her parents.

"Go get 'em, baby girl." Taiyang said to her daughter as Summer nodded, a small tear ran down Ruby's face as she left them to get down to the arena. When she finally arrived, she noticed a boy with dirty blonde hair, carrying what seemed like a tomahawk. Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and unfolded it.

"Geez, they set me up against YOU, this should be easy." Her opponent, Ross Nelson, taunted. Ruby shaked off the insult as the arena shifted into a hill filled plain, Port began the countdown.

"3...2…" Ruby quickly sized up her opponent, he was wearing casual clothes, with patches of armor spread on his person, and he had his war axe in one hand, she assumed he fought light on his feet. "1...Go!" Ruby got on 1 knee and began to fire sniper rounds at her opponent, who switched his tomahawk into a pistol and ran towards Ruby, firing shots as he ran. Ross's shots all missed Ruby, while Ruby wasn't doing well herself, she couldn't get a clear shot on her opponent, a thus missed every shot. Ross then jumped and swung his tomahawk down at Ruby, who blocked the swing with her massive weapon, Ruby then switched her weapon to scythe form and began swinging at Ross, who narrowly avoided every strike. Ruby used her semblance and boosted off in a burst of rose petals, Ross looked at his opponent speeding around the rough terrain of the arena. Ruby placed herself on top of one of the hills and switched Crescent Rose back into a sniper rifle and began firing. Ross was hit in the chest and was sent flying back, almost to the edge of the arena, when Ross recovered, he used his semblance and disappeared. Ruby's eyes widened at what her opponent just did, she looked around, trying to find where he had gone. Ruby then heard footsteps coming from her right, when she looked that direction, she saw Ross swinging his tomahawk, Ruby attempted to dodge, but was a bit late as Ross got in a swipe on Ruby's ankle. Ruby whimpered a bit, but quickly recovered, Ruby swung Crescent Rose at Ross's ankles, tripping him, Ruby used the window of opportunity to distance herself. Ross got up and began to speak again.

"I'll admit, that was pretty good, but I'll still win this, no matter how much you run!" Ross said as he went invisible yet again, Ruby expected him to use the same tactic, and looked to her sides, Ruby was then suddenly kicked in the back with extreme force, sending her flying across the arena, she recovered and looked to see Ross where she was standing with his leg outstretched. Ruby scowled a bit as she aimed at Ross once again and fired, Ross didn't pay attention and was hit in the chest yet again, and sent flying back to the edge of the arena, stopping right at the edge. When Ross recovered, he quickly climbed up the closest hill to get a vantage point, but when he finally got to the top, he was kicked in the chest by a speeding Ruby and was sent flying out of the ring and landing with a thud.

"The winner is Ruby Rose of Beacon academy!" Port yelled over the loudspeaker, the entire crowd erupted into applause and cheers.

"Damn it…" A beaten down Ross said, Ruby looked around at the crowd clapping for her, she then looked to her team. Yang was jumping up and down with pride, Weiss and Blake were clapping hard and cheering, Jarryd was cheering her on like he was watching a sports game along with her parents. Ruby began to tear up at the praise from everyone in the stadium as she walked back to the stands, when she arrived she was immediately greeted with a bone crushing hug from her sister.

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang yelled, pulling Ruby into her chest.

"Yang. Please. Can't breath!" Ruby pleaded as Yang sheepishly let her sister go, Ruby recovered and took her seat.

"Great work, Ruby, you've definitely improved since the beginning of the year." Blake told the young leader, who smiled in response.

"I'll admit, you're getting better…" Ruby lit up at Weiss's praise. "But you're still somewhat of a dolt." Weiss said with a smile, making Ruby sigh.

"I think you did great, also that guy was just being a cocky asshole." Jarryd whispered the last part, as to not provoke the parents, the girls just giggled.

"Yeah, the stuff he said was rude, but it didn't get to me."

"Good, if you let that get to you, it won't help you in anyway." Ruby was suddenly grabbed from behind by her dad, as Taiyang gave Ruby a noogie.

"Great work out there kiddo!" Ruby laughed as her father ran his fist over her scalp.

"Thanks dad." Ruby said between laughter, the group then watched the rest of the first bracket go by fast, the second bracket then began as Yang anxiously awaited her fight, though her match was 4th.

"You seem excited, Yang." Jarryd stated with a chuckle as the blonde was shaking in anticipation.

"Of course, I can't wait to get out there." Yang said while shaking, the other matches went by fairly fast, and before they knew it, Yang was called.

"Up next, Yang Xiao Long of Beacon VS Mercury Black of Haven!" Yang immediately jumped up and ran off towards the arena.

"Wish me luck!" She yelled while running out of the stands, her team and parents just sweatdropped.

"Well, that's Yang for you…" Ruby said with a slight chuckle, which the others joined in the small laughter.

 **(A/N: Ok, so this fight is gonna be like the one in the show, but I'm going to change something to go along with my story)**

Yang reached the arena in about a minute, along with Mercury, the 2 stood across from each other as the arena began to shift into an island, surrounding water and everything.

"You'd better not go easy on me." Yang said to Mercury with a smirk, which he shot back one of his own.

"Hmph, you wish." Was all Mercury replied with.

"Break a leg, sis!" Yang heard Ruby yell from the stands, bringing a smile to her face.

"3...2...1…" Yang and Mercury slowly approached each other, both in their martial arts stance. "Fight!" At that word, Mercury jumped up for a kick while Yang punched forward as foot and fist collided, both fighters stumbled back a bit before Mercury tried another kick, which Yang jumped over and landed behind Mercury. The 2 combatants began to exchange kicks and punches before Yang blasted him back with a blast from her Ember Celica, Mercury recovered by doing a quick backflip in the air. Yang then tried to hit him by firing more shots, which hit the ground, shooting up sand as Mercury ran out of the way, he got close to Yang and tried an axe kick, which was blocked by Yang putter her arms in an X shape. Mercury recovered quickly and used another kick to send Yang into the air, along with some sand that got in her eyes, Yang got back up as she tried to ignore her now watering eyes, and boosted forward with another shotgun blast, she reached Mercury and tried to hit him in the head, leg, and arm, which was all blocked off. Mercury countered with a roundhouse kick, making Yang stumble back. Mercury did another flip in the air and brought his leg down, Yang stepped out of the way in time, she then punched the ground where Mercury was, sending more sand flying, but he began to do a corkscrew in the air. Mercury then landed and tried another axe kick, but missed, sending more sand upwards. The 2 began another power struggle, trading blows as the crowd was getting hyped. Yang eventually forced Mercury back again with a punch to the gut, sending him nearly flying out of the arena, but Mercury boosted himself back in time with a gust of wind. They began to perform another series of kicks and punches, which none of them seemed to land.

"Wow, look at them go!" Ruby said from the stands.

"I have to admit, Mercury's gotten better than when I sparred with him in class." Jarryd then smirked. "But Yang has yet to activate her semblance." Back to the fight, Mercury eventually got a kick in on Yang, sending her back, he did another series of kicks in the air, sending out gusts of wind like a machine gun. Yang worked hard to avoid the oncoming air, and eventually got to where Mercury was standing, Yang tried to get a punch in, but Mercury dodged and kicked her into the air, when she landed, Mercury sent all of the gusts down to hit Yang, creating a whirlwind of air and sand and a small explosion. Mercury began to walk away and dust himself off, as the thought the fight was over, until another explosion was heard behind him and a ring of fire formed. Mercury sighed and turned around to see Yang, with her hair glowing gold and her eyes red, Yang charged and hit Mercury in the stomach, sending him back. Mercury got up and tried to kick Yang again, but Yang dodged the attacks and began to punch Mercury every which way. She then landed an uppercut, and hit him in the face, sending him down into the sand. They looked up to see that Mercury's aura was depleted. Yang calmed down and raised her fist in victory, she looked to her team and parents cheering her on.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" Dr. Oobleck announced, Yang looked down to Mercury on the sand.

"Better luck next time…" Yang said before walking off of the island, Mercury got up on one knee and muttered something.

"There's not going to be a next time, blondie." He said quietly, so Yang couldn't hear him, Mercury got up and boosted himself forward with a flying kick, Yang heard the noise and stepped to the side. Mercury's eyes widened as he saw himself heading straight for a palm tree that formed on the island. Mercury's foot connected with the artificial tree, a snap was heard as Mercury's leg twisted off to the side as he screamed out in fake pain. He fell to the ground holding his leg, everyone in the crowd was confused at what just happened, they looked at a replay on the screen, with Yang standing next to Mercury, when Yang stepped to the side, the screen showed Mercury falling down randomly and clutching his leg. Emerald ran on the field and looked over Mercury.

"Merc! What happened!?" She yelled trying to comfort her teammate.

"Why? Why'd she do that!?" Mercury screamed out, making everyone confused at the statement, as they all saw Mercury fall randomly.

"D-Do what?" She asked while sweating slightly at her teammate's actions.

"She hit me!" He yelled once again, confusing everyone yet again.

"What!? I didn't do anything!" Yang yelled in defense, medics ran on to the field and began to check over Mercury, they brought out a stretcher and carried him off. Yang was still confused at what just happened, but eventually shrugged it off and walked back to her seat. When she arrived, her team gave her quizzical looks.

"Yang….good work...but do you know what the hell just happened?" Jarryd asked what they were all thinking.

"Yes, all of us are a bit confused, Yang" Her father added on.

"Ok, from the replay it looked different, he tried to kick me, so I stepped out of the way and he hit a freaking palm tree."

"Yeah, It definitely looked different from here…" Weiss said.

"Whatever, we'll deal with it later, there's still more fighting to be done." The rest of the second bracket went by fast, and the third bracket began.

"Next up, Weiss Schnee VS Cardin Winchester!"

"Well this won't last long." Jarryd told his white haired teammate.

"It shouldn't…" Weiss got up and began to walk away. "I'll be back in a bit." The heiress said with a smile.

"She seems happy."

"Probably because she's almost guaranteed victory here." Blake told her team as they saw Weiss and Cardin enter the arena, which didn't shift at all.

"Alright, Schnee…" Cardin started off, taking out his mace. "Let's get this over with…"

"My pleasure…" Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster and put the rapier next to her face.

"3, 2, 1...Fight!" Dr. Oobleck yelled this time at a faster pace than Port. Both teens charged at the go-ahead, Cardin swung his mace down as soon as Weiss got close, she quickly spun around Cardin and began to thrust and jab him in his lower abdomen, Cardin grunted and swung his mace around, Weiss couldn't dodge in time, and was sent flying back. Weiss looked up to see Cardin smirking from his original position, She then got up and did a quick spin before plunging Myrtenaster into the ground, forming a glyph underneath her, Cardin couldn't process what happened because Weiss immediately charged forward with immense speed. Cardin's eyes widened as he was jabbed by the rapier, Weiss seized the opportunity to end the fight, and kicked Cardin hard in the chest, still with power from her glyph, sending Cardin flying out of the ring. Weiss smirked as she sheathed Myrtenaster, and ended with a curtsey.

"Weiss Schnee is the winner!" Oobleck announced again, the entire stadium clapped, somewhat amazed at how fast the match went by. Weiss quickly left the arena and made her way back. Jarryd saw her approach.

"What'd I say, it wouldn't last long." The team laughed at the lone male's comments.

"You were right, Winchester is a disappointment to huntsmen everywhere." Weiss responded, rolling her eyes.

"Ain't that the truth" Yang added on as the group kept on laughing, a few more matches went by before it was Jarryd's turn.

"Next, Jarryd Starks of Beacon VS Nick Blackwood of Haven!" Professor Port announced over the loudspeaker.

"Well, let's get this over with…" Jarryd began to leave his seat, gaining a quick hug from Ruby.

"Hey, Jarryd." Weiss stopped him from getting any further, he turned back, eyebrow raised in confusion, Weiss tossed something 2 him, which he caught with one hand. He looked at what Weiss had thrown, they looked like bullets, but color coordinated.

"What are these?"

"Dust rounds, since I didn't use any, I think you could put them to use here." Weiss answered with a smile, Jarryd smiled back.

"I probably will, thanks." Jarryd put the clip in one of his pockets as he walked down to the arena. When Jarryd left eye sight, a man ran up to the group, wheezing, showing that he ran far.

"Has….the match...started yet." He said between breaths.

"Not yet, Mr. Starks." The man lifted his head, revealing John.

"Good, I was afraid that I would miss my own son's fight." John took a seat next to Taiyang, who gave him a stern stare, John looked up and smiled.

"Oh, I don't believe we've met yet." John held out his hand for Taiyang to shake. "John Starks, Jarryd's father." Taiyang reluctantly took his hand and shook.

"Taiyang Xiao Long, Ruby and Yang's father."

"It's a pleasure. Oh! Here they come." John pointed down to the arena, where Jarryd and a kid with dark brown hair, wearing a green top with a red and black checkered sash over it, wearing blue jeans, carrying a giant sheath over his back, enter the arena.

"Ah, you must be the boy from Beacon I've heard quite a bit about…" Jarryd's opponent, Nick Blackwood said to him.

"I guess I am…"

"I've waited for this for a while, so don't disappoint me."

"I could say the same." Jarryd responded with a chuckle, which Nick joined in the laugh. "But enough talking, let's fight."

"Aye." Nick agreed with somewhat of an accent. The arena began to form into a volcanic landscape, with black rocks covering everything, and an artificial volcano in the northeast section of the arena. Both Jarryd and Nick unsheathed their weapons, Jarryd brought out Crimson Fury, while Nick pulled a giant claymore sword out from the sheath on his back. Jarryd's eyes widened in surprise, but quickly thought of a plan.

"3,2,1,Go!" Oobleck quickly said, Nick charged at Jarryd, who stood still as his opponent charged. Nick swung his claymore sideways, which Jarryd jumped over and kicked his opponent in the head in mid-air. Nick stumbled back as Jarryd landed safely, Nick growled and charged yet again, this time swinging his gigantic sword downward. Jarryd sidestepped and slashed Nick across the chest. Nick swung towards where Jarryd was standing, but he sidestepped yet again and sliced the other student a few more times. Nick had enough and swung his blade over his shoulder, Jarryd put Crimson Fury up in defense, the 2 swords locked as sparks flew from both of the blades.

"You're pretty good!" Nick nearly had to yell from both the noise from the interlocking blades, and the cheers of the crowd.

"Thanks, you aren't to bad yourself!" Jarryd yelled back, a smirk formed on Nick's face.

"But you walked right into my trap!" Nick closed his eyes as his aura began to form and gradually get brighter, Jarryd's eyes widened as Nick's aura seemed to explode, sending him flying across the rocky terrain, scratching him up as he finally regained control of himself and brought himself to his feet. Jarryd looked up to see Nick slightly laughing in the same spot he was when he exploded. "Like my semblance, Starks!?"

"Not particularly!" He yelled back.

"Now why don't you show me yours!?" Jarryd smirked as he pulled out both of his revolvers.

"I'll use it when I need it!" Jarryd began to fire off regular bullets, Nick was surprisingly able to dodge all of them. Jarryd scowled as his mind began to slow down time for him to think of something. 'With that semblance of his, I can't get close for 2 long, and he seems surprisingly agile so he can dodge my bullets.' Jarryd smiled as he remembered something, he pulled out the clip of dust rounds Weiss gave to him and loaded his revolvers with different types of ammo. Jarryd finished loading his gun, gripped his cutlass tight, and ran towards Nick at full speed, Nick did the same. Once the 2 warriors were about 15 feet apart, Jarryd jumped in the air, doing a flip as he pulled out one of his revolvers, Nick had little time to react as Jarryd shot the ground below him, which set off into a fiery explosion, sending Nick into the air. Jarryd landed and quickly threw down one of his water bombs, spilling the liquid in a decent sized puddle, Jarryd thrusted his hand forward, shooting out a stream of water upwards towards the flying Nick, who was hit hard and was being propelled towards the edge of the arena. Nick quickly used his semblance to explode and destroy the stream, as he landed at the arena barrier, Jarryd mentally cursed as he couldn't finish the job.

"Clever, Starks! You nearly got me!" Nick yelled from the edge of the arena, Jarryd only smirked again in response.

"No, right now...I've got you in a good spot." Nick raised an eyebrow, wondering what his opponent ment, he got his answer when he saw some of the leftover water from the stream he blew up come towards him in separate streams. Nick began to avoid the bursts of water, and slashing the ones he couldn't, he saw an opportunity and ran towards Jarryd at surprisingly high speeds. Jarryd sidestepped to avoid the oncoming sword blade, and was forced into another blade lock, Nick smiled as he aura grew bright again, causing Jarryd to backflip out of the way just in time as Nick exploded again. Jarryd regained himself fast, but was knocked to the ground again by a shoulder charge from Nick, Jarryd opened his eyes to see Nick standing over him, sword over his head.

"You put up a good fight, I'm sorry it has to come to an end!" Jarryd looked to the side and smirked again.

"So am I…" Jarryd swiped his hand through the air, Nick looked to the side to see another torrent of water coming towards him, he couldn't move fast enough and his claymore was taken away by the water and thrown out of the arena, Nick looked back to see Jarryd, standing up, sword pointing at him. "Game over, Blackwood…" Jarryd said with an almost sinister glare, Nick began to laugh as he accepted defeat.

"Oh man, I did not expect that!" Nick bellowed out, making Jarryd join in the laughter, Oobleck made the announcement over the loudspeaker.

"And Jarryd Starks wins in spectacular fashion!" The entire crowd roared the loudest it had all day. Nick held out his hand.

"Good luck in the next round." Jarryd grabbed Nick's hand and shook.

"Thanks, I might need it." Jarryd let go of his hand as he exited the arena, but not before Professor Port announced the next match.

"Next, Andrew Blink VS Yatsuhashi Daichi!" Jarryd's eyes opened at the first name, as he saw Andrew walk down the stairs.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" Jarryd yelled out to Andrew, who looked at him and smiled.

"I should say the same thing, knowing how much the crowd loves you now." He responded with a small laugh. Jarryd just patted him on the back.

"I won't keep you, good luck out there." Andrew looked at him and smirked.

"Please, I'll end this before you get back to your seat!" With that, Andrew ran into the arena, hoping to keep his promise, Jarryd laughed as he heard Dr. Oobleck start the fight. Jarryd walked up the stairs and tried to make his way to his seat, but he quickly heard something.

"The winner is Andrew Blink!" Jarryd looked down to see him standing over Yatsuhashi, Halberd in hand.

"Well, I'll be damned…" Jarryd laughed before making his way to his seat, when he arrived he was immediately pulled into a noogie by his father.

"That's my boy!" John said while scratching his son's head.

"Dad, knock it off!" Jarryd yelled back as his team, Summer and Taiyang laughed at the scene, Jarryd finally got his dad to let go and he made his way back to his seat.

"Nice going, bro, you had us worried that you might lose." Yang told her non-blood brother. Jarryd just smirked and pointed to his head.

"I come up with many plans, but I didn't plan to lose." The other girls laughed while yang only had a scowl.

"Hey, I make the puns here!" She yelled out, causing everyone to laugh even harder. Ruby quickly quieted down and put her hand on her boyfriend's.

"You did great out there…" She said with a pink tint on her cheeks. Jarryd smiled in return.

"Thanks…" Taiyang and Summer witnessed the scene below them, bringing a smile to both of them.

"See, Taiyang, why would you want to break up something as cute as that?"

"I wasn't sure if they were ready, now….now I'm positive they are." Taiyang felt a slap on his back, he looked to his left to see John.

"Aye, that's the spirit!" The rest of the third bracket went by quick as the fourth round started, Blake quietly awaited her turn, until the last match of the night.

"We are sorry to announce that Amanda Jayden couldn't make it to tonight's round, thus giving Blake Belladonna the default win." Port announced over the speaker.

 **(A/N: I was gonna do a fight here but I need to hurry this up!)**

Blake shrugged her shoulders, accepting the victory. "That is all the matches for today, please leave the stadium in a CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!" Oobleck yelled out the last part. Everyone got up and began to leave, until Weiss stopped, causing Ruby and Jarryd to bump into her.

"Um...Weiss?" Ruby gave her teammate a questioning look, they followed Weiss's gaze up to the sky, where there was a military airship flying above.

"She's here…." Was all Weiss said.

"Who's here?" Jarryd questioned.

"Winter…"

 **AAAAAANNNNNDDD DONE!**

 **Holy crap this took way longer than expected!**

 **I just have a few things to say, I know when I first came out with this story, I admit, I sucked, when I go back to read it I cringe, but I can tell I have grown as a writer and I want to thank you all for being there with me throughout this journey, I wouldn't be doing this without you.**

 **But that's all I have to say….so….**

 **SEE YA!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again.**

 **Okay, so I'm gonna try to keep this one a lot shorter, because I've been trying to get progressively longer, which is leading to longer time taken to get the chapter out, which leads to more anticipation, and more chance for procrastination.**

 **Also, one of my friends who is an extremely talented artist drew the first piece of "Fan art" for the story, where she drew Jarryd and Ruby together, Ruby is in her volume 4 uniform, she just drew it that way, either way, it looks amazing.**

 **So…..yeah….**

 **LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

After leaving the arena, the group quickly got onto a ship and flew back down to Beacon, once the ship landed, Weiss immediately took off, Ruby followed right behind, Jarryd sighed and turned to the remaining people.

"I'll go look after them." Jarryd took off after the 2 girls and eventually caught up to Ruby

"Weiss….what is the big deal!?" Ruby said in between breaths from all of the running.

"Who is so important that we need to ditch our teammates!?" Jarryd yelled at her still trying to keep up the pace, Weiss eventually stopped, causing the other 2 to stop as well. Ruby and Jarryd saw Weiss looking at a woman exiting the military airship that flew over moments ago, she had white hair tied up into a bun, and was wearing a very elegant white combat dress.

"Winter…" Weiss said in awe.

"Wait, your sister?" Ruby and Jarryd remember Weiss telling the team about her family, and she would single out her sister in particular, as she was part of the Atlesian military.

"WINTER!" Weiss yelled at the top of her lungs, causing the white haired woman to turn to them, Weiss ran towards her, making Ruby and Jarryd follow. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss began jumping up and down, causing everyone, including Ruby and Jarryd to raise an eyebrow at her, realizing her mistake, she quickly tried to fix it. "I mean, your presence honors us." She added with a curtsey. The woman, now known as Winter began to walk forward, to robot guards at her side.

"Beacon….it's been a long time, the air feels…..different…" Winter said, looking around at the campus.

"I mean, it is fall, it's probably colder…" Ruby responded, somewhat timid, Weiss punched her in the arm, causing Ruby to collapse dramatically, Jarryd just facepalmed at both of their actions. Weiss changed the subject.

"So...what brings you here?"

"Classified." Was Winter's only answer.

"Oh, right...well, how long are you staying?"

"Classified." Weiss mentally frowned.

"Of course." She replied with a fake smile, there was a brief silence as the sisters just stared at each other.

"Well….this is nice….I think." Ruby looked to Jarryd for an answer, who shrugged his shoulders. Weiss regained her composure.

"You are going to LOVE it here, I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas, Vale too. The government AND school are completely separate, can you believe it I'm-" Weiss was talking at a faster pace than Ruby, and was going to continue, but Jarryd put one of his hands up to her mouth.

"Easy, Weiss, before you run out of breath." Jarryd said as Weiss pushed his hand away.

"I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its…" Winter scowled as she thought of the word. "Beaurocracy, that is not why I came…" Weiss shot up at her sister's glare.

"Right! I'm sorry…" Weiss hung her head down in apology.

"I also did not come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle, but it appears I have no choice in the matter…" The 3 teammate's eyes widened at the remark.

"But...but I won…" Weiss started off, only to be shut down again.

"Only a novice would call **that** a victory, I counted at least **3** strikes missed." Weiss winced at her sister's scorn. Jarryd decided to step in.

"Hey! She won her fight, and is moving on to the next round, she won, and she doesn't need her own sister putting her down…" Weiss was surprised at the only male's sudden defense, Winter only scowled at the boy in front of her.

"And you are…."

"Jarryd Starks, her teammate and friend." The 2 began a staredown, Winter only smirked.

"Ah, yes...you're the one who beat Blackwood from Haven, one of the top students there." She then bent down and looked Jarryd directly in the eye, though he wasn't intimidated. Winter turned back to her robot guardians. "Leave us!" She yelled, causing the bots to back up, Winter straightened herself out again. "Sorry about that, how have you been?" She said with a lot of sincerity, causing the 3 to raise an eyebrow at the sudden change of heart. Weiss jumped at this.

"Oh, splendid, thank you for asking, I'm actually at the top ranking of our sparring class, the rest of my studies are going wonderfully to-" Weiss was shut up with a smack to the head from her sister.

"Silence, you boob, I don't recall asking about your ranking, I asked how you've been. Are you eating properly? Have you taken up any new hobbies? Are you making new friends, besides that one?" Winter pointed to Jarryd, making him remember what he said when he defended Weiss, he put an arm behind his head in embarrassment.

"Well...besides him, there's Ruby." Weiss gestured to the team leader, who was giggling.

"Hehe, boob…" Ruby chuckled, remember what Winter called her younger sister, causing both Weiss and Jarryd to facepalm yet again.

"I see…." Winter seemed skeptical. "So this is the leader you wrote of...how appropriately...underwhelming…" Ruby smiled nervously as she didn't know how to respond, Jarryd was almost fuming at the lack of respect.

"Uh….thank you?"

"Greetings, Ruby Rose, I wish to thank you for taking interest in my sister." Ruby and Jarryd both were surprised again at the change of tone.

"Oh, yes...of course, the honor is in my...court…" Ruby began to tip over and had to catch herself, when she recovered, she smiled and laughed nervously. Winter raised an eyebrow as she turned to Jarryd.

"And you...Jarryd Starks." Jarryd and Winter began another staredown before Winter's eyes opened up fully. "You've got guts, I'll give you that." Jarryd yet again raised an eyebrow. "It takes guts to say stuff like that to a military officer…"

"I'll take that for what it's worth." He responded with a smirk.

"Also, your father is John Starks, captain of The Red Band, which means you grew up with pirates."

"My whole life." Winter and Jarryd both smiled at each other now as they shook hands.

"Amazing, you definitely don't act like a normal pirate…"

"I try not to." They let go of each other's hands. Winter then straightened herself up again.

"I have business with the general and your headmaster, but..seeing as I'm early...why don't you take me to your quarters?" Weiss lit up like a holiday tree.

"Really!?"

"Yes, I wish to inspect them and make sure they are up to my personal standards…" Weiss and Winter began to walk off towards Beacon, Jarryd and Ruby turned to each other.

"Oh no…" They both said, knowing the mess their room was.

"Of course, also, the bunk beds only look unstable…" Weiss told her sister, which made her cringe as they walked off.

"Bunk beds…." Winter scowled, grinding her teeth, and leaving Jarryd and Ruby alone. Ruby began to yell towards the 2.

"We'll catch u-Oh, I mean….we'll reconvene at a later...juncture…" Ruby smiled again, thinking she got it right, while Jarryd just put his hand on her head.

"Do me a favor...and don't ever do that again…" The couple began to walk off, but Jarryd saw some students gathering around 2 people in the distance, Jarryd recognized both of them. "Um...isn't that Winter, and your uncle?" Jarryd pointed at the crowd, Ruby stood on her toes to get a clear look, then her eyes widened.

"Yes...yes it is…" They both saw Winter rush forward and attack Qrow, who dodged everything Winter threw at him, he then pulled out a giant sword as they both began swinging. Jarryd and Ruby ran towards the crowd and eventually found Weiss.

"Weiss, what's going on?"

"I don't know, some crazy guy just started attacking my sister!" She yelled out.

"Um...that's not just any crazy guy…" Both Weiss and Jarryd looked to Ruby.

"That is my uncle!" She yelled out, causing Weiss to jump back a bit.

"What!" Weiss yelled out at the same volume.

"Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs, Weiss couldn't believe what she heard, but quickly decided what side she was on.

"Teach him respect, Winter!" Weiss screamed as the fight went on. Winter and Qrow began a struggle with both of their blades, Winter eventually lept back and formed a glyph as Qrow smashed the ground before her, tearing up the concrete, she was boosted up into the air and landed further away, Qrow didn't waste any time closing the gap as the 2 began another struggle, Jarryd was trying to figure out a way to stop the 2 from destroying the campus, but he was trying to multitask by watching the intense fight before him. Qrow took another swipe at Winter, which she jumped over and stood on Qrow's sword, She tried to kick him in the head, but Qrow avoided the oncoming foot as Winter back flipped just in time before Qrow's giant sword hit the ground. Winter flipped once again, this time, onto the academy building, Winer began to climb her way up the academy as Qrow tried to shoot her down before he hopped onto the building himself. The 2 began to run and shoot at the same time, before Winter disappeared in a cloud of white mist, Qrow stopped and stood confused for a moment, before Winter emerged from the cloud, flying towards Qrow at high speeds, Qrow steadied himself and held his sword upright in front of him. Winter separated her blade into 2 smaller ones, the 2 then collided, sending them both to the ground with a crash, but they wasted no time getting back into the fight, zipping around the courtyard as fast as they could go. Winter eventually forced Qrow back to the original crowd that formed, she then used one of her blades to summon a glyph, which sent birds made of dust towards Qrow, who avoided and slashed everyone of them. The 2 began another staredown as Winter formed another glyph behind her, Qrow smiled as he shortened his blade and put it behind his back with another grin, Winter seemed confused before Qrow gestured for her to attack, which she did. Winter charged forward at full speed, pointing her blades at Qrow's neck, and when she finally reached him, a voice called out.

"Schnee!" Everyone turned to see General Ironwood, Qrow smirked as his plan worked perfectly, Winter turned around and stood at attention.

"General Ironwood, sir!" Weiss, Ruby and Jarryd saw a figure behind Ironwood, and it was no other than Penny.

"What do you think you're doing!?" Ironwood tried to keep his tone, but everyone could see his anger.

"He started the altercation, sir!" Winter tried to defend herself.

"Actually, that's not true, she attacked first…" Qrow put his hands behind his head in a calm way as Winter's mouth was agape.

"Is that right….?" Winter looked down in embarrassment and anger at the question from her commanding officer. "And you…" Ironwood looked to Qrow, who looked somewhat confused. "What are you doing **here** …?"

"I could be asking you the same thing…" Qrow responded with a cheeky grin.

"Now, now everyone…" Everyone turned around again to see Ozpin and Glynda approaching. "There is a sanctioned fight happening just around the corner at the colosseum, that I can assure you has better seats...and popcorn…" Ozpin took another sip from his mug.

"Calm down everyone, we will take care of this...mess…"

"Let's go." Ironwood said sternly, causing Winter, Ozpin, Glynda, the robot guards, and Penny to follow, leaving Qrow behind. Penny turned around to see Ruby and Jarryd waving at her, she smiled, waved back, and walked away. Ruby then charged towards her uncle.

"Uncle Qrow!" She yelled as she clung onto his arm, Jarryd and Weiss just sweatdropped and ran up. "Hi…" Qrow straightened out his arm. "It's so great to see you again, did you miss me, did you miss me?" Ruby said again at her usual rapid pace.

"Nope." Qrow said with a smile as he made Ruby let go of his arm.

"Qrow!" They all turned to see Ozpin with a somewhat angry look in his eyes. "A word, please?" Qrow bent down close to his niece.

"I think I'm in trouble…"

"You did kinda tear up the courtyard." Jarryd said with a small laugh, earning one from Qrow.

"Yeah, I did didn't I?" He turned back to Ruby. "Catch ya later kid." Qrow held out his fist, which Ruby bumped with her own fist. As Qrow left, Weiss approached.

"And suddenly your recklessness makes sense…" Ruby looked at her with a smug grin.

"You're just mad because he whooped butt."

"That was a draw at best." Jarryd then put his hands on both of their heads.

"Whatever it was, it's over now…" The 2 girls shrugged at this. "Though, your uncle's kinda cool, Ruby, he came up with a plan that I might not have thought of." Ruby fist pumped the air in triumph.

 **4 Hours later**

"You'll never beat me old man!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Hmph, you're nothing but talk, kid!" Qrow retorted.

"You can do it, Ruby!" Yang yelled in support of her sister.

"Don't you think you 3 are taking this a bit too seriously…?" Jarryd sighed as he looked at the ongoing battle….on screen, Ruby, Qrow and Yang were passing the time playing a fighting game, which the had really gotten into. Qrow's character pulled out a sword and cut the head off of Ruby's character.

"Soaring Ninja wins! Total Annihilation!" The game said as Ruby looked in horror at what just transpired, Qrow was smirking in triumph.

"By the way, never call me old!" He said to his niece as Yang pushed her sister out of the way and grabbed the controller.

"My turn!

"A new challenger approaches…" The game said softly.

"Now, where was I...?" Qrow began tapping his chin.

"You were telling us about what happened on your last mission." Jarryd answered, picking his girlfriend up off the ground.

"Oh yeah...I was in this small village in the swamps, west of Mistral, right of the bat, I knew something wasn't right…." Qrow began telling the story as a starstruck Ruby was in awe.

"What were you doing there?"

"I needed information...tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to start my search at the town's inn. The place was crawling with low-lifes, thugs, and even huntsmen that I assumed were hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs...then it happened…" the 2 girls listened with eagerness while Jarryd was somewhat interested, but he had a feeling the story was gonna take a different turn.

"What happened?" Yang asked.

"I was defeated…" Qrow answered softly, Jarryd raised an eyebrow.

"By what….?" He questioned, somewhat skeptical.

"By the mere sight...of the innkeepers skirt length!" Qrow had a grin on his face, before it was knocked off by Yang throwing a pillow at him. Jarryd just sighed.

"I should have saw THAT coming…" He said while he facepalmed, Yang was trying to control her anger at her uncle's pervertedness.

"You are the worst!" Yang responded, putting emphasis on worst. Qrow and Ruby just began laughing.

"So...uncle Qrow, did you get in trouble with Ozpin?" Ruby asked childishly.

"Ah, Me and Oz go way back, we're cool…" Qrow gave the 3 a thumbs up, showing everything was ok.

"Cool for an old guy…?" Yang joked as Qrow frowned.

"Not funny…"

"So, why exactly are you here, Qrow?" Jarryd asked the girl's uncle, who got back to playing the game.

"Yeah, I thought Dad said you were gonna be on a mission for like….ever." Qrow smiled at the 2.

"Great question, Nephew." Jarryd rolled his eyes at the name given to him, since he was dating Ruby, it seemed like everyone was expecting them to get hitched. "A professional huntsmen like myself is expected to get results, as soon as possible." Qrow smiled again.

"Yeah, I get that, we're pretty much pros too." Ruby stated.

"Oh really…"

"Yeah, we totally save Vale when we're gone." Yang added with a smirk, Qrow smirked as well.

"Really...because I heard Vale suffered a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train…" Qrow silenced himself for second as he ended the game against Yang, making her scowl again. "And they don't give out medals for almost…"

"Yes they do, and they're called silver!" Ruby defended the team's actions. Jarryd smiled this time.

"Well, we helped take down Roman Torchwick, the guy's locked up in Ironwood's ship, and since then, crime has been down quite a bit, and Torchwick isn't the easiest to deal with, believe me." The 3 smirked, thinking how Qrow couldn't bring them down from that.

"You may be acting like huntsmen, but you aren't thinking like them...you really think 4 girls, 1 guy, and their friends can halt all crime in a kingdom?" Ruby looked down.

"I did, until you just said that…"

"Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got nabbed, it's completely stopped." This surprised the 3 teens. "No White Fang activity anywhere around the city, you cut off the head of the King Taijitu, but now the second head is calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his…" The 3 students looked at each other.

"You know the general?"

"Heh, I know everybody to some extent, remember you're talking to one of the members of the coolest team to graduate Beacon…" Qrow grabbed a photo out of his pocket and showed them the picture of his team, which consisted of Summer, Taiyang, Qrow and a woman with long black hair, Jarryd thought he recognized her for a second, Yang's eyes widened at the girl with black hair, noting the fact they looked similar. Qrow sighed. "Team STRQ…hey ain't that funny." He pointed at Jarryd, since their team name was pronounced 'Stark'. "This is when I met you girl's parents, we were pretty well known back in the day…"

"Well known for crummy fashion sense." Ruby joked as Yang still stared at the photo with wide eyes.

"Hey, we looked good...and I have a number of inappropriate stories to back it up…" Qrow finally noticed Yang looking intently at the picture and put it back into his pocket. "But I'll save those for when you're older, Ruby began to shake her head in disgust, as if she ate something awful, Yang brought herself back into reality as Qrow got up and began to walk away. "Anyway, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids, you're gonna cramp my style…" Qrow stopped in the middle of the room. "Look, just remember that you all still have a long way to go, and don't think for a second that graduating means you're done, every day out there is worth a week in this place...you 3 are gonna go far." The 3 teens in the room smiled, Jarryd only did slightly, as he took Qrow's other words to heart, as he knew he still had a job to do, Qrow then continued. "But only if you keep learning...if you never stop moving forward." With these words, Qrow left the room, leaving the 3 teens alone. Jarryd turned to the girls.

"You were right, you're uncle is pretty cool." Jarryd laughed as Yang put her hands behind your head with a smug grin.

"I told you." Jarryd walked across the room and sat on his bed.

"You girls ready for tomorrow?" Ruby shot up, with the same grin that Yang held on her face.

"Of course, we just have to do the same thing, kick butt and take names!" Ruby yelled with a fist pump as Yang and Jarryd chuckled at her phrasing.

"Yes, but the competition will be a lot harder, they won't just give us the win." Ruby nodded.

"I know…" She replied with her head down, Yang quickly tried to cheer her sister up.

"Hey, look on the bright side, we all won our first match, we all moved on together."

"Yes, but the tournament can only have 1 winner...which means if we all keep moving on, we'll have to fight each other." Jarryd responded as he laid down. "I'm gonna get to bed early." He pulled his blanket over his body, and rested his head on the bed's pillow. In a few minutes, Jarryd blacked out.

Jarryd opened his eyes and was surprised as to what he saw, he was on a ship, he could hear gunshots going off and the sounds of swords colliding. Jarryd began to look around before he saw something that made his eyes widen, his old friend, Jack Daw, fighting off a group of naval soldiers. Jarryd stood frozen as he watched Jack fight off the soldiers, though it didn't take him long for him to finish them off, the soldiers fell dead to the ground as Jack turned and looked at Jarryd with a smile. Jarryd then saw one of the soldiers get up and run towards Jack, Jarryd knew what was happening, and shouted out to his best friend, but his screams were drowned out by all of the conflict going on around them. The soldier then ran his sword through Jack's back, as blood began to spill out of Jack's mouth and stomach. Jarryd began to tear up as he watched his best friend die, yet again, and as Jack fell to the ground, everything went black yet again.

Jarryd then found himself in Beacon's courtyard on what seemed like a cloudy day, Jarryd looked around again, when he heard a scream coming from inside the school, which sounded like Ruby. Jarryd quickly ran through the halls until he reached the sound. When he saw both team RWBY and JNPR fighting off creatures of Grimm in the hall, they all looked beaten up. Jarryd began to fumble around for his sword and guns, when one of the Grimm struck Jaune, who then disappeared into thin air. The other Grimm attacked as well, killing off the student's one by one, Pyrrha, Ren, and Nora all went down within a few seconds, Jarryd was finally able to pull out his cutlass, but it was too late. Weiss and Blake were hit hard, causing them to disappear, another Grimm charged towards Ruby and swiped, but Yang jumped in front of her, and hit the ground hard, making her slowly disappear. Ruby then yelled out loud and charged at the beasts at full speed, taking down as many Grimm as she could, before she eventually got hit by one of the creature's claws, sending her flying back into Jarryd's arms. Jarryd looked down at the girl in his hands and began to say the same word repeatedly.

"No, no, no!" Jarryd kept repeating that word as Ruby's body slowly began to disappear into thin air, until she vanished completely. Jarryd began to sob in his hands, but when he looked up, he saw all of the Grimm who's attention was on his comrades, standing over him. The beasts, stared him down for a second before lunging at the pirate, who closed his eyes and waited for the worst, but then he woke up.

Jarryd shot up in his bed, clutching his chest and breathing heavily, he then looked to the side to see all of the girls sleeping quietly in their own beds. Jarryd sighed as he got out of bed, silently walked towards, and out the door, he made his way to the balcony to get some fresh air, as he began breathing in and out, he heard a voice.

"You saw it...didn't you?" Jarryd looked up to see the cloaked figure that he had fought with 2 times before, Jarryd quickly unsheathed his sword, but the cloaked man raised his hand. "I'm not here to fight...this time." Jarryd lowered his guard at the statement.

"I'm guessing that….whatever the hell that was is what you are trying to get me ready for." The stranger nodded, still hiding his face with his hood.

"Yes…"

"But wait, how did you know I had a nightmare, and this specific one?" Jarryd questioned, the stranger gave a small smirk.

"Let's just say….I know you better than you know yourself…" The man's smirk changed back to a small frown "But anyways, what you saw IS what I'm trying to prepare you for."

"Well, how exactly do I stop...that" Jarryd shuddered as he remembered the nightmare a few minutes before. The stranger then turned and looked off into the distance.

"I don't know…" Jarryd squinted as he seethed with anger.

"You. Don't. Know!?" Jarryd yelled as he grinded his teeth.

"I don't know exactly how to stop what is coming, but I know how to prepare you…" Jarryd leaned in closer to hear what the stranger had to say. "Growth." Was all he said.

"Growth? What does that mean?"Jarryd questioned, as nothing the man was saying made sense.

"You need to grow as a fighter, as a strategist, and as a person, maturity will be necessary for the upcoming disaster…" He said with his usual blank stare and menacing tone. At first, Jarryd didn't know how to respond to the words, then he thought of another question.

"So, how long do we have till this disaster happens?" Jarryd awaited anxiously for a reply.

"We still have quite a bit of time…." The stranger said calmly, Jarryd gave a sigh of relief.

"That's good." Both of them heard footsteps approaching their location.

"I have to go, remember what I told you here…" The man said as Jarryd nodded, The stranger then jumped up and quickly made his exit. Jarryd looked at the man's escape route as the person approached.

"Hey Jarryd, who're ya talkin' to?" The voice of Ruby called out, Jarryd internally panicked, but quickly played it off.

"Just myself." Jarryd turned around and gave his girlfriend a smile. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep."

"It's fine, neither could I." Ruby replied as she gave Jarryd a small hug, Jarryd responded by kissing her on the top of her head.

"So, you ready for the next round?" He asked Ruby.

"Yeah, I'm still somewhat nervous though, sometimes I wonder how Yang does this stuff without giving it second thought." Ruby chuckled at the joke about her sister.

"Mmmhmm, your sister sure is an enigma." Ruby looked up at Jarryd in confusion, not understanding what the word meant, Jarryd quickly understood the situation. "Something that is confusing." Ruby's mouth formed a large 'O', as she finally understood the definition. A mental lightbulb went off in Ruby's head as she pulled something out of her pocket and held it out to Jarryd.

"Weiss told me to give you this." Jarryd looked at the object in his girlfriend's hand, a black box, he took the box and opened it, what he saw made him smirk.

"More dust rounds…" He said as he pulled out a red dust bullet and looked it over. "These will definitely come in handy for the tournament." He finished with a small smile. "Remind me to thank Weiss later." Ruby nodded as she looked back down the hallway.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah, good idea." Jarryd began to walk back to the dorm, but Ruby grabbed his arm and pulled him back, and into a loving kiss, Jarryd was slightly confused but decided to roll with it as he kissed back. Their lips separated about a minute later. "Now what was that about?" Jarryd asked with a smug smile.

"Just another thank you, for finding our mom." Ruby said as she looked down, with a small blush on her cheeks, Jarryd gave a small laugh as he put his hand on Ruby's head and ruffled her hair.

"Again, I was just doing my job." He responded as he walked towards the hallway again, only this time, he held his hand out to Ruby. "Let's go back to bed." Ruby looked at Jarryd's hand with a grin, she grabbed his hand tightly and gave him a nod of approval. Jarryd and Ruby then walked back to their dorm room, hand in hand.

 **Next day**

Team RWBY had decided to spend the time before the tournament in downtown Beacon, so they could relax before the fighting started. As they walked down the road, nobody could think of a way to spark conversation, but when they reached the docks, someone called out to them.

"Jarryd!" The team turned around to see Jarryd's father, waving his hand around, trying to call them over, they all ran over to John.

"Hey dad, do you need something?" Jarryd asked his aging father.

"Yes actually, since we are going to be staying docked in Vale for a while, we need to unload some things, are you available?" Jarryd put a hand to his chin.

"Well, the next round of the tournament should be starting soon...but my match isn't for a while." Jarryd turned around to his female teammates. "Is it alright if I help out here?"

"It's fine, Jarryd." Ruby answered with a smile.

"Yeah, just don't be late for your fight." Yang gave a thumbs up as the girls turned to leave, Jarryd followed his father onto the Crimson Raider and was gestured to a couple of boxes, Jarryd tried to lift one and it was surprisingly heavy.

"Jeez, dad, what the heck do you have in here?" Jarryd asked as he was finally able to lift up the box.

"You'll see…" His father replied with a smile, Jarryd was very curious, and a tiny bit suspicious as to what his father was planning, he got the crate off the boat and brought it over to where John wanted it. "Well go ahead, open it." John ordered with the same smile he had on. Jarryd pried the box open, revealing a flat screen TV, Jarryd was slightly confused.

"Um, what do you need this for?"

"Since the crew, nor I can come to the stadium today, we're gonna watch your fight from TV…" John then put his hand behind his head in embarrassment. "Problem is, we don't know how to set it up." Jarryd knew what to do though, since when Team RWBY decided to put a TV in their room, Jarryd was the one who set it up.

 **20 minutes later**

"And that should do it." Jarryd looked at his handiwork, he had found an outlet on the outside of a nearby building, so he was able to set the TV up, confusing cables and all, he propped it up on the box that he TV came in, Jarryd turned on the television and turned to the right channel, only to see a familiar face on the screen.

"And Ruby Rose is the winner!" The unmistakable voice of Professor Port said over the speaker.

"Well how bout that…" Jarryd turned towards his father. "I should probably get going, can't keep them waiting." Jarryd held out his hand towards John, who just pushed his hand aside and gave his son an almost bone crushing hug.

"Good luck out there."

"Thanks dad." Jarryd replied as John eventually let go after a full minute. "Jeez, for an aging man, you've still got some strength behind ya." Jarryd joked, his father gave a small laugh.

"Run along now." John patted his son on the back as Jarryd began jogging towards the landing zones for the airships. About a 3rd of the way there, Jarryd noticed someone familiar walking the same direction as him, he instantly recognized him by his neatly combed white hair.

"Hey, Andrew!" The white-haired individual turned around to see who called his name, he smiled as Jarryd ran up to him.

"Well look who it is, crowd favorite Jarryd Starks." Andrew joked as Jarryd stopped jogging and began walking at Andrew's pace.

"Oh shut up." Was Jarryd's only response to the comment.

"I'm serious man, they love you." Andrew said with his eyes somewhat widened, meaning he was telling the truth.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, I can't let the 'fame' get to me, I still have to focus on fighting." Jarryd replied with confidence in his voice, he decided to change topics. "So, where's Jackson and...that other girl, the one who pointed the staff at my face." Jarryd couldn't remember her name, and he really didn't want to.

"Oh yeah, Irene, she went to the stadium early to 'scout the competition' as she says." Andrew's light hearted smile turned into a frown. "Jackson….Jackson is still in the hospital, he hasn't fully recovered yet, so he wasn't able to compete in the tournament." He then looked back to Jarryd, smile back on his face. "But I know, if he did compete, he would have fought with 110% effort." Jarryd smiled and nodded at Andrew's optimism.

"I bet he would've…" Time seemed to fly, as by the end of Andrew's monologue, hey reached the airships, they both entered an empty one, waiting to take off.

"You 2 in the tournament?" The pilot asked from the front.

"Yep, can you fly us to the stadium?" Andrew asked politely.

"Sure thing." The pilot responded with a nod as he started up the ship and began flying.

"So, you got the answer of why I was by myself, why were you alone, don't you have a team?" Andrew asked, Jarryd quickly gave him the answer.

"Well, we were planning on going together, but someone I knew needed some help, and my match wasn't for a while, so I stayed to help, I finished the job fairly quickly, and then I ran into you." Jarryd replied with a shrug, Andrew nodded, satisfied with the answer, he looked down for a second.

"That was nice of you," Andrew then looked back up. "And just so you know, if we face each other, I won't go easy on you." Jarryd smiled at this.

"Me neither, but uh...look to your right…" Jarryd pointed to Andrew's right, which he looked over and saw a mess of black hair, with a big grin.

"Hey bro…" Andrew was dumbstruck at what he saw, then he lowered his head, slight frown on his face.

"Jackson…" Andrew's brother started to get nervous.

"Yeah…" Andrew then stood up and approached Jackson.

"Why are you out of the hospital!" Andrew yelled out, causing Jackson to jump back a bit, Jackson tried to think of an answer.

"W-well, I wanted to see your match today in person, not in a hospital bed." Jackson then turned to Jarryd. "By the way, nice work there."

"Thanks" was the only reply he got. Andrew pulled Jackson up by his shirt collar and began to shake him.

"What the hell were you thinking!?, Do you know what happens if your illness acts up here!?"

"Relax bro, my headache has calmed down...mostly." Jackson rubbed his hand behind his head in embarrassment, Andrew just sighed.

"Ok, fine, you can stay." Jackson's eyes lit up. "But afterwards, you are going straight back to the hospital, do you understand." Andrew finished as Jackson lowered his head.

"Yes…"

"Good…" Andrew then wrapped his arms around Jackson, pulling him into a hug. "Thanks for coming, Jackson." Jackson didn't know how to react at first, but he started to pat his brother on the back.

"No problem, Drew." Jarryd smiled at the scene before him, reminding him of his brotherhood with Jack, he then looked out the window to see that they were in the process of landing.

"I hate to interrupt this moment, but we're here." Jarryd told the 2 brothers, as they looked out the window, after realizing Jarryd told the truth, they separated as the airship doors opened, the 3 teens jumped out of the ship and thanked the pilot before he took off again, but when they turned around, a familiar face was there.

"Well well, it's about time you showed up." The girl named Irene was standing before them, Andrew and Jackson walked up to their teammate, while Jarryd stayed back, still skeptical of the girl.

"Hey Irene, did you win your match?" Jackson asked, Irene just scoffed at the question, and flipped her hair.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Andrew began to laugh at his female friend.

"I guess not, you're determined to win this thing aren't you?" Irene gave them an amused, yet also confused look.

"Well of course!" Andrew and Jackson kept on laughing.

"Yeah, well Andrew and Jarryd might have something to say to that." Jackson responded as he pointed to Jarryd, who was still standing behind them, Irene gave them a sly smile.

"Andrew, I'm not worried about…" Irene blurted out, Andrew got defensive for a second.

"Hey! I'll have you know that-" Andrew was quickly cut off by his female teammate again.

"Yeah whatever…" Irene then walked over to Jarryd and looked him in they eyes. "You would be one tough opponent." Jarryd gave her a smirk as a response, showing he wasn't scared, but Irene wasn't intimidated. "But, I'm fairly certain I'll still win." Jarryd chuckled in response.

"Don't count your victory yet." Jarryd then looked to the entire team. "I should probably head up so I can be ready." Andrew nodded in response.

"Yeah, we should do the same." Andrew held out his hand, which Jarryd started to shake.

"Good luck!" The 2 said in unison, Jarryd let go of the hand and began to walk towards the stairs, Andrew and Jackson did the same, while Irene stayed behind for a second, looking at Jarryd with a mischievous smile, before she walked off with the other boys. Jarryd thought to himself.

'Something is definitely up with that Irene girl…' Jarryd quickly dismissed the thought as he reached surface of the stadium, he quickly looked around and spotted his team, except Weiss, Jarryd looked down into the stadium and saw his missing teammate. "Made it just in time." Jarryd quietly said as he made his way over to the others. Yang was the first to notice him.

"There you are!" Yang yelled out, causing the other members of the team to turn their heads towards Jarryd.

"Yeah, what'd I miss?" Jarryd asked as he sat down in the first open chair he saw.

"Well, Ruby and I won our matches, Jaune didn't fare so well in his next fight, Phyrra moved on, and now Weiss is up." Yang responded.

"But she isn't doing well…" Blake added on as she was watching the fight below, shaking her head. Jarryd looked down again, noticing the terrain of the field, Jagged rocks cutting of some escape routes, and the opponent Weiss was fighting has a giant hammer.

"I see the problem…" The 3 girls turn towards him yet again. "Weiss has very limited room to work with, and with her opponent using a giant weapon, that only makes thing harder for her, luck wasn't on her side." When Jarryd finished, as if on cue, Weiss's opponent smashed his hammer into the ground, which made the earth shoot up, sending Weiss flying out of the arena, ending the fight.

"And Harrison Allen wins!" Dr. Oobleck announced. All of team RWBY, including Weiss, was shocked at what just happened. Weiss hit her hand on the ground as she grabbed her weapon and made her way up to the stands. After a minute, she found the team and sat down in her seat, hands covering her eyes as she sat, the rest of the team heard sobs coming from the heiress, and they quickly attempted to calm her down.

"Hey Weiss, it's fine, you did great out there" Yang said as she patted Weiss's back.

"Yeah, you held your ground and never gave up." Ruby added on, trying to think of the right, soothing phrases,

"What's Winter gonna say…" Weiss continued to sob.

"She'd be proud of you." Jarryd told Weiss, who looked up at Jarryd, Ruby then added on.

"Yeah, especially with that cool summoning thing you did." Weiss's eyes began to dry as she slightly smiled.

"I-I guess you're right." The entire team nodded, knowing that Weiss had finally calmed down, as the match after Weiss's ended.

"Next up, Jarryd Starks of Beacon VS Neon Katt of Atlas" Jarryd got up from his seat as e turned towards Weiss.

"Weiss, you're from Atlas, what do they teach in their schools, since we weren't paying attention last round." Jarryd asked the now calmed down heiress.

"They use very strict, military training, I would expect a trained professional." Weiss answered with certainty. Jarryd nodded.

"Thanks, I'll be back in a bit." Jarryd began to walk away.

"Good luck!" Ruby yelled towards her boyfriend, Jarryd looked back and gave her a loving smile as he walked down the stairs. Jarryd walked into the arena and looked around, but he couldn't see anyone that looked like a hunter, when suddenly a rainbow blur speeded past him and it stopped at the other end, revealing a feminine figure with orange hair, tied into 2 ponytails, wearing roller blades and bright, colorful, and slightly skimpy clothing. Jarryd's mouth was wide open, and had his face scrunched as he had no words to explain what he just saw, the girl laughed.

"What's the matter, like what you see?" The girl, who Jarryd assumed was Neon Katt, said in a flirty tone.

"No, I'm just confused…" Jarryd finally answered after not knowing what to say about the situation, he looked towards the stands and saw Ruby, almost fuming at the fact that Neon was flirting with her boyfriend. The arena then began to shift, into what looked like a small city, if a small city was hit by a nuclear bomb.

"Aww, that's too bad…" Neon and Jarryd then walked on to the wasteland. "'Cause I sure like what I see." Neon responded as she licked her lips. Jarryd was starting to get angry.

"Ok, now you're just pissing me off!" Jarryd said as he unsheathed his cutlass and assumed his position.

"Oh, you're cute when you're mad." Neon replied with a feisty look in her eyes, Jarryd began to snicker.

"I hate to rain on your parade…" Jarryd gave Neon a sly smirk. "But I'm taken…" Neon replied with a smirk of her own, showing she wasn't intimidated as she pulled out her weapon of choice, of pair of nunchaku.

"Fight!" Professor Port yelled over the microphone, Jarryd stood still and held his hand out, and motioned for Neon to run over to him, as if he was daring her. Neon took the bait, and began roller-blading over to Jarryd's spot, she then bent her pair of nunchucks, which began to glow a bright cyan color. Jarryd stood still, waiting for the right timing, and when Neon was finally close, Jarryd ducked out of the way, Neon sped past him, but quickly turned around, and headed straight for Jarryd. Jarryd tried to duck out of the way, but was a bit late, as he got hit in the shoulder by one of Neon's nunchucks, which ended up coating his shoulder in a blanket of ice, Jarryd looked at the now frozen body part, Neon just started laughing.

"Looks like I gave you the 'cold shoulder!'" Neon yelled out so the audience could hear, which she was met with both laughs and groans from the spectators, Neon then took the opportunity and charged at Jarryd once again, repeating a mantra. "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a beat." She repeated as she left rainbows in her wake, Jarryd quickly thought of something as he stood up. When Neon got just close enough, Jarryd sidestepped and waited for Neon to be beside him, and when she was, Jarryd quickly stepped back, charging his shoulder right into Neon's body, sending her flying at an angle and crashing into a broken down structure. The hit also destroyed the sheet of ice draped on Jarryd's shoulder, Jarryd decided to channel his inner Yang.

"After all of your flirting, who would have thought **I'd** be the one to 'break the ice'" Jarryd said at the same volume Neon did, the audience gave the same response, though you could make out Yang laughing from her seat. Neon got up from the crash and was for some reason still smiling.

"That was a good one, I'll give you that." Neon said and gave a smirk. "But I gotta go!" She yelled out as she began to speed around the arena. Jarryd quickly took a defensive position in the middle of the street as he sheathed his cutlass and aimed his 2 revolvers down each end of the broken road, he saw a rainbow blur go by one end of the street, and a few seconds later, saw the same blur and the end of the other street, Jarryd checked the bullets that were in the first chamber, the gun on his right held a yellow dust bullet, signifying the lightning element, and the one on his left held a red bullet, symbolizing fire. When Jarryd looked up, he saw Neon turn the corner, Jarryd quickly brought his other gun to the direction and fired the gun with the yellow bullet. Neon barely dodged the bullet and kept skating as the yellow bullet exploded with electricity as she kept chanting her mantra.

"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a beat!" Jarryd fired the other gun, sending the red bullet flying, Neon dodged again, letting the bullet explode in a blaze of fire, Jarryd holstered his revolvers and brought out his sword again, letting Neon charge towards him once more, Jarryd was able to roll out of the way once more, Neon quickly turned again, ready to hit him with her nunchucks, except this time Jarryd was prepared. Jarryd uppercutted Neon's weapons hard, sending them flying into the air, except Neon quickly reacted and was able to punch the sword out of Jarryd's hand with the same amount of force, sending it into the air. While Jarryd watched his blade fly up into the air, Neon surprised him by throwing a quick punch, which Jarryd instantly noticed as he countered her punch by grabbed her arms and hitting her square in the chest. Neon reached upwards and caught her nunchucks in mid-air, Jarryd quickly kicked her away as he looked up and caught his sword before it hit the ground, once Jarryd caught himself, he noticed Neon take off down the broken street again. Jarryd decided not to stay still and climbed to the top of one of the broken down buildings, where he could see Neon skating around, repeating the same phrase. "Never miss a beat, never miss a beat, never miss a beat." This phrase was really starting to tick off Jarryd, though he didn't show it. He saw an opportunity that could win the match, so he took it, he grabbed a water bomb from inside his shirt and chucked it to the edge of the arena, where the glass broke, forming a puddle on the ground. Jarryd smirked as he extended his hand, which spread the water out, he then pulled his hand forward fast, sending a small wave of water that flooded the area, and once it reached Neon's skates, they couldn't move, as Neon fell on her face from the sudden stop, Neon pulled herself up and noticed her clothes being wet, she also noticed that the water was up to her knees, she tried to skate, but couldn't get her skates rolling again, but she couldn't get any momentum. Neon heard splashing coming from beside her, she looked over and saw Jarryd already by her, sword out and currently slashing, the strike landed as Jarryd kept slashing, landing hit after hit. Jarryd backed up and unholstered his revolver and spun the chamber to another red bullet, and fired at the ground beneath Neon's feet, sending her flying into the air, Jarryd then used his semblance to bring almost all of the water from the flood attack into the air, right above Neon, Jarryd brought down his hand, which sent the large amount of water directly upon Neon, slamming her into the ground hard. When the water disappeared, it revealed Neon, lying on the ground, with her aura glowing red, showing that Jarryd had won.

"Due to Neon Katt's aura being depleted, Jarryd Starks is the winner!" Dr. Oobleck yelled out loud, even though he was using a microphone, the audience roared in applause, amazed at the spectacle they saw happen in front of them. Jarryd walked over to the sprawled out form of Neon and held a hand out to her.

"Good match." Was all he said, Neon seemed hesitant to take his hand after what she said at the beginning, but she did anyway. Jarryd hoisted her up and said one more thing before walking off. "Nice irritation tactic." Jarryd then walked back towards the stairs as the next fight was announced.

"Next, Andrew Blink VS Lie Ren!" Jarryd heard Andrew's name and quickly rushed up to his seat so he could see the match, when he reached his seat, he quickly sat down, which was when the girls finally noticed him.

"Nice fighting, bro." Yang said while reaching over to pat him on the back.

"Thanks, Yang, she was tougher than she looked." Jarryd shot yang a smile, then turn that smile into a smirk as he looked at Weiss. "But she wasn't a 'military trained professional'"

"To be honest, I don't have a comeback for that." Weiss just shrugged, Jarryd didn't bother teasing her about it more, as he wanted to watch the match below. Ruby was looking at Jarryd nervously, as she wanted to ask him about Neon's flirting, but didn't get the chance as Jarryd's attention was on the match at hand.

 **In the arena**

Andrew stared down his opponent, Lie Ren, since he walked into the arena. The arena began to change its environment yet again, as a floating island with one half a of it in the shape of a volcano, the other half coated in ice. Andrew smiled as both he and Ren stepped out onto the field, Andrew saw Ren take out his weapons, 2 pistols with what looked like a sharp bayonet attached to the end of the barrel of the gun.

"Nice guns!" Andrew yelled to Ren, who gave a nod in return.

"Thank you." Was Ren's short reply, Andrew gave a smirk in reply as he got Black Cardinal out of it's sheath, Andrew spun the halberd around and got in his battle stance.

"Let's get this started." Andrew quietly said, confidence in his voice.

"3...2,1,Go!" Oobleck anxiously yelled out over the speakers, causing some of the audience members to cover up their ears, Andrew didn't waste any time getting to work, he ran straight towards Ren, and when he was finally close enough, swiped the long weapon right at Ren's knees. Ren jumped over the attack and attempted to kick Andrew in the head, which was blocked by Andrew moving his elbow up to his face, Andrew then grabbed Ren's ankle and threw him backwards with all of his strength. Ren was still in the air as he twisted around, aiming his pistols at Andrew and began firing, Andrew began to run for his life as bullets were flying by his backside. Andrew then noticed a wall of thick ice shooting out from the ground, he dived behind the pillar as the bullets were unable to penetrate the thick ice. Ren kept firing at the frozen wall, hoping to break in, but his rubber bullets showed no signs of breaking it, Andrew looked around and tried to think of something to get out of his current situation, when he looked below him and saw his shadow. Andrew smirked as a plan began to form in his head, he then activated his semblance, sending parts of his shadow out like tentacles, shooting them towards Ren. The shadows launched out of the ground as Ren took no time in backing up, trying to avoid the shadow projectiles. The shadows began to circle Ren and shoot out at him, forcing him to block them with the blades on Stormflower, causing the shadows to disappear, Ren quickly turned around and saw Andrew already above him, halberd over his head and ready to swing. Ren jumped out of the way, just in time as Black Cardinal slammed onto the ice ground below, making a cut in the ice, Andrew used his semblance again to send another wave of shadow projectiles towards Ren, this time, connecting. Ren was sent flying backwards, but was stopped when he collided with an ice wall, Ren opened his eyes and saw something flying towards his face, he quickly rolled away and saw an arrow embedded in the wall. Ren looked back to see Andrew, holding what looked like an entirely different weapon, but he could tell his halberd has changed forms, revealing a string, Ren could tell that the weapon was now a crossbow. While Ren was processing the events of what happened in his head, Andrew took full advantage of his opponents confusion as he rushed straight forward, Ren finally snapped back to reality and blocked the oncoming strike from Andrew's crossbow as the 2 weapons locked. The 2 began to circle around as they were still struggling, until they had spun 180 degrees, Andrew began to speak.

"You're pretty good!" He yelled, making sure Ren could hear him, Ren only responded with a nod, Andrew gave a smirk. "But this fight is over!" Ren was slightly confused as to what his opponent ment, but Andrew quickly answered. Andrew used all of his strength to push Ren backwards, unlocking the weapons, and forcing Ren to stumble backwards his Andrew quickly loaded another arrow into his crossbow, this time, the arrow was tipped with red dust, Andrew aimed down his sights and fired as Ren was struggling to stabilize himself. The arrow bounced off of Ren's aura shield, but the red dust exploded, sending Ren flying backwards again, this time, out of the arena, Andrew's crossbow changed back into its halberd form, and Andrew sheathed the weapon on his back.

"And Andrew Blink is the winner!" The professor announced as the crowd erupted into applause, Jarryd was impressed with what he saw from Andrew, as he thought of his next move, even while being shot at, and using his unique semblance to turn the tables on Ren.

"Wow…" A dumbstruck Yang said to break the silence.

"Poor Ren…" Ruby added with a somewhat sad expression.

"His opponent seemed one step ahead of him, no matter what Ren did." Blake continued off of what everyone was thinking, except Jarryd, who realized something.

"I hope I have better luck, I have to fight him next round…" The 4 girls turned to him in shock.

"You do!?" Weiss yelled out and

"Think about it, my match was right before theirs, and that was the last round of the 3rd bracket, and since we both won, I'm taking him on." Jarryd then turned back to them with a smile. "It'll be tough, but I believe I can win." The girls smiled right back. A few more rounds passed by until they heard Professor Port's voice.

"Next up…" Port went silent for a second before announcing the combatants

"Blake Belladonna VS Velvet Scarlatina!"

 **AND DONE!**

 **Holy crap that took way too long, sorry I couldn't get this out sooner, I've mostly been getting ready for school (Even though I haven't done crap this summer) and with school starting, I can't work on these as much, but I'll still get time in.**

 **Did you all see those Volume 4 leaks, and the release date is gonna be on October 22nd, Sweet!**

 **Also, I do plan on ending this soon...But that's ok! Because immediately after I get done with the events of Volume 3, I'm gonna do a Buccaneer Turned Hunter Season 2! Which will basically be MY version of what Volume 4 would be like with all these new characters and plot points in the mix.**

 **And after that, I will be writing another fanfic! It will be based off the anime Familiar of Zero (Or Zero no Tsukaima, for those who prefer to call it the japanese name) if you have not watched the series, I recommend it!**

 **I'm also gonna give you some numbers here, this story has currently 6,709 views 25 favorites, 28 followers, and I've had people put me down as a favorite author….THAT'S INSANE! I really couldn't have done any of this without any of you, if nobody read this crap, then why would I write it.**

 **And feel free to ask me any questions you have about the story, or me with a PM or review!**

 **That's really all I have to say.**

 **SEE YA!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello guys and wel-WHAT THE HELL? IT'S BEEN MONTHS SINCE THE LAST ONE!**

 **Ok, I'm not the most consistent person in the world, but I DID get the last chapter out just before school started, and if you guys ever wondered, running any sort of Web series (or in this case fanfiction) while in high school is IMPOSSIBLE. I try to work on this as much as I can, but I barely have the time for it. Hope Y'all can be patient with me in the future…**

 **As I'm writing this, this might be a shorter chapter just so I can get it out to you guys.**

 **Also, huge shoutout to 5waydragon for being their for me and this fic since the beginning, he should have a story on his profile (If I remember correctly), go check him out!**

 **Oh yeah, and I think I forgot to put this in the last chapter (Don't know why I need to anymore)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY in any way, shape, or form, RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace...**

 **So now that that's out of the way….LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

"Blake Belladonna VS Velvet Scarlatina!" Professor Port yelled over the loudspeaker, leaving Team RWBY with their eyes widened, Blake's expression quickly turned of one from shock to sadness.

"I'll be right back…" said Blake as she got up and walked towards the arena. The members of Team RWBY watched their black-clad teammate go by and they turned to each other, wondering what was the issue.

"Any idea as to what her problem is?" Weiss asked, looking at the remaining 3 still sitting.

"Maybe she's just tired and doesn't want to fight today." Yang responded, bringing all eyes to her, with everyone having a scowl.

"Yang, even I know that's not right…" Ruby said with a deadpan expression, Jarryd quickly thought of another answer.

"Well, she and Velvet are very close friends, so that must be bugging her a bit." Jarryd told the 3 girls, who thought the idea over.

"That might be it...but why would she be upset with just that?" Yang replied with another question, which Jarryd could answer again.

"That's what I'm thinking...it could also be the fact that they are both faunus!" Jarryd softly yelled, making sure anyone who didn't know about Blake's secret didn't hear.

"You could be right there, even when we were fighting the White Fang, she hesitated when she was fighting the faunus members." Weiss added onto Jarryd's answer.

"Well, we can't do anything about it right now" Ruby pointed down to the arena, as Blake and Velvet walked inside and got close to each other.

 **Blake and Velvet's conversation**

As Blake and Velvet walked towards each other, neither one of them knew how to start the new conversation. Eventually, Blake broke the silence.

"Hey Velvet…" Blake said, still with her sad expression and a monotone voice.

"Hello Blake…" Velvet replied in the same way, but with her trademark accent, both of the faunus brought themselves to look one another in the eyes. As they looked at one another, they didn't say a word, but they could tell what the other wanted to say. 'I don't want to fight you.' As they thought of this, Professor Port's voice came over the loudspeaker again.

"If our 2 combatants can go to their respective starting spots, we can begin the match." Port announced with a cough at the beginning of his sentence. Blake and Velvet looked over to each other one more time before slowly walking backwards to their spots. Port began counting down.

"3…"

Blake began to think about how her life led up to this point, from being a young girl protesting on a street corner as nobody paid any attention to her, to being a huntress in training, and about to fight one of her best friends, who came from the same background as she did.

"2..."

She thought about the friends she has made ever since she came to Beacon Academy. Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Jarryd, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, Neptune, Sun, and many others.

"1…"

Lastly, she thought about her faunus heritage, her kind being treated like dirt and not as people, and here she was, about to fight a fellow faunus, for the amusement and gambling of the crowd. After a brief moment, she made a decision, and yelled out 2 words before Port could start the match.

"I forfeit!" Blake yelled out to the crowd, and was met with a collective gasp, the most shocked being her own team, Sun and Neptune, and Velvet. Nobody could comprehend what had just happened, Velvet stood at the other end of the arena, wide-eyed at what her friend had just screamed, but she realized why Blake had said what she did. Velvet's expression became one of determination as she looked up to the sky and yelled.

"I forfeit as well!" Another gasp was heard, this time Blake was shocked to hear this from her fellow faunus. Professor Port and Oobleck looked to each other and began to whisper before speaking over the loudspeaker again.

"Since both Blake Belladonna and Velvet Scarlatina forfeit the tournament, the winner of the next round shall move up 2 spots in the bracket." Oobleck told the crowd, which was still stricken with disbelief at what just happened. Blake and Velvet looked at each other one more time, this time with a smile, and they both nodded and turned towards the stairs. Blake made her way back to her seat, which was surrounded by her confused and worried teammates, except for Jarryd, who was smiling.

'She put her morals before her duty...good for you Blake' Jarryd thought as his female teammates tried to pry answers out of Blake, who stayed silent, but still had a small grin on her face. The rest of the matches for the day passed by fast, as Team Rwby quickly got up from their seats and left the stadium.

 **Beacon Academy Guest Room - 2 Hours later**

"So what's the plan now, Mistress?" Mercury asked as he and Emerald sat on the bed, while Cinder paced back and forth.

"I don't know yet, Mercury!" Cinder yelled out before going back to thinking. "Since this new bracket system is in effect, it threw our whole plan out the window!" Cinder put a hand to her chin and brainstormed.

"That Penny girl was eliminated in the fourth bracket today, is there any other way this can work?" Emerald asked as an idea hit Cinder.

"Of course...why didn't I think of her sooner!" Cinder said to herself as she fumbled for her scroll, pulling up a picture of a student and showing it to Mercury and Emerald "She is in the first bracket, and with a little...help, she can win." Emerald's eyes lit up at the plan.

"That's perfect, if anyone here has enough power to beat Nikos, it's her!" Emerald exclaimed, Cinder justs smirked at this response.

"Oh, that's not all she's gonna do…" Cinder started.

"What are you talking about, millady?" Mercury asked with cocked eyebrows, Emerald was wondering the same thing.

"Beating Ms. Nikos would be a big statement to the world, but not big enough...If she wins, that would be even bigger…" Cinder finished her thought as she began to chuckle in a sinister way, this chuckle turned into an evil laugh.

 **Jarryd's dream**

Jarryd opened his eyes to what seemed like a familiar sight, the Beacon courtyard, but he could tell there was something off about the scene. Jarryd then heard screams and the cackle of flames behind him, he quickly spun around to see a horrific sight, a ruined Beacon Academy. He saw students running out of the building like chickens with their heads cut off, Jarryd ran up to one student and grabbed them.

"What's going on here!?" Jarryd asked the student with a worried tone, the student turned to him with a frightened look on their face.

"There's someone in there, along with Grimm, destroying everything, I saw Blake trying to fight him off!" Jarryd went wide-eyed at the student's answer, he let go of the student and rushed inside Beacon to help Blake. Once inside, he dodged around several fallen pillars and large pieces of debris that were still falling. He soon found Blake with a man who had red hair, and wore a black coat and pants, and had a mask resembling a Grimm covering his eyes. He saw the man standing over a fallen Blake, holding his sword, which was a crimson red katana, over Blake, pointing at her stomach. Jarryd froze, not knowing what to do in this situation, he wanted to run over and attack the man, but he knew doing so would provoke him into hurting Blake. The man began to speak up.

"I'm going to destroy everything you love…" The cloaked man said as a familiar voice came from their left.

"Blake! Blake where are you!" Yelled the voice of Yang, who they say fighting Grimm near a broken window. The man looked back down to Blake.

"Starting with her…" He told Blake, before plunging his sword into her torso, causing Blake to scream, and Jarryd to widen his eyes even more, while still frozen with fear, Yang also saw what just happened and had her hair light up in flames.

"Get away from her!" Yang screamed as her eyes turned red, she then rushed towards the man, who had turned to her, sword at his side.

"Yang, no…" Blake tried to yell, but it came out as a whisper, even then it was too late, Yang had tried to punch the man, but he quickly brought up his sword and struck. Everything seemed to slow down as Yang was still in the air, twisting around, and her arm flew separate from the rest of her body. Jarryd and Blake looked on in horror, while the man just stood there with no expression. As Yang hit the ground, and her arm landing near her, Jarryd was finally able to speak.

"Yang!" He yelled out to his fallen teammate, who was unconscious, but Blake and the man heard him as they both turned to face Jarryd. Blake reached her arm out to him and whispered again.

"Jarryd, please run!" She softly yelled, Jarryd heard her, but didn't listen as he unholstered his revolvers and pointed them at the man.

"You monster!" Jarryd yelled again, firing off every shot he had in the cylinder. The man used his sword to deflect all the normal bullets and he walked through the elemental effects of the dust rounds, even the explosives.

"He's next…" The man said in his monotone voice. When Jarryd ran out of ammo, he didn't bother reloading, he quickly holstered his guns and unsheathed his cutlass, and gestured for the man to attack first. The man then started to run towards him, Jarryd ran at him as well, blades at both of their sides. When they were within striking distance, they both swung and the crimson swords collided, but when they did, there was a flash of white.

 **Team RWBY's Dorm Room - Midnight**

Jarryd shot up from his bed, sweat pouring down the side of his head, and he was gasping for air. He looked around to see the 4 girls in their respective bunk beds, Blake was at peace and Yang still had both arms, everything was the way it should be. Jarryd began to think.

'This is the second nightmare now, will that actually happen…?' Jarryd then remembered what the man in the black and purple cloak that had been following him had written from their second encounter, _"Look out for a man with red hair."_ Jarryd knew what the stranger had meant, this masked figure in his nightmare was the man he was talking about. Jarryd knew one thing for certain, He hand to find the stranger yet again. Jarryd put on an overcoat and snuck out of the dorm room, not waking anybody up, and walked towards the courtyard. When he arrived, he looked around at the emptiness of the courtyard at night, after walking around for a few minutes, Jarryd felt a change in the wind, he smiled, knowing he got what he wanted.

"I know you're here! Show yourself!" Jarryd yelled out as he waited a few moments before he got his answer.

"Alright, here I am…" Jarryd looked up to the top of the statue in the middle of the courtyard, and there was the stranger, standing on top of the weapon of the stone huntsman.

"Good, I knew you'd come…" Jarryd said as the stranger hopped down from the statue in front of Jarryd.

"What is it you need?" The man asked, Jarryd shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I had another nightmare, I was hoping you could tell me what it means…" Jarryd started, waiting for the man's reply, which was a subtle nod of his head. "I woke up in this very courtyard where Beacon was in ruins and the students were running around all crazy, one student told me that Blake was inside fighting someone who had brought Grimm into Beacon. When I rushed inside and found Blake, this man with red hair and a mask was standing over her and he said 'I'm going to destroy everything you love.' That's when Yang came in and started searching for Blake, the man then stabbed Blake with his sword, angering Yang as she charged at him. But when they clashed, Yang's arm was cut off...that's when I rushed in to help, then I woke up." The man had no facial expression changes throughout the story as he processed what Jarryd had told him.

"Yes, I know all about it...and that will happen." The man started, as Jarryd interrupted him.

"What!?" Jarryd yelled out as the man put his arm up to stop him.

"I wasn't finished, It will happen, but you can prevent it." Jarryd's eyes widened and a hopeful look came back to his face.

"How?" Jarryd asked yet another simple question.

"I personally don't know, but my guess would be is to find a way to stop Yang from attacking the masked man…" The cloaked man answered, bringing up another question from Jarryd.

"By the way, who is that guy with the mask, I know you told me to look out for red hair, but is this the guy you were talking about?" The stranger sighed, knowing that he couldn't keep everything from Jarryd.

"His name is Adam Taurus, and he works for the White Fang. You won't be able to meet him most likely until that moment in time, he is very seclusive." Jarryd was happy to learn the name of the masked man, but sighed when he heard he couldn't stop it before it happened.

"Well, thanks...I should probably head back to my dorm, I've got a tournament round tomorrow…" Jarryd then turned to walk back to his room, but felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, I can teach you a new trick with your semblance that you can use in the tournament." The man told Jarryd, who turned around and gave a smile.

"I'm listening…"

 **Team RWBY Dorm Room - 1 hour later**

Jarryd opened the door to the room slowly and saw his teammates grabbing what looked like flashlights, the girls all turned to him and gave a scowl.

"And where were **you** exactly, mister!?" Weiss scolded, Jarryd quickly came up with an excuse.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a midnight walk. What're you all doing up right now?" Jarryd asked, causing Blake to sigh.

"Ruby woke us up a few minutes ago and told us you were missing, so we were gonna go out and search for you, I guess now we don't have to and I can get back to bed." Blake answered as she climbed back into her bed, as Yang and Weiss did the same, leaving Ruby and Jarryd still up. Ruby walked over to Jarryd and began to whisper.

"Are you sure that you just took a walk…?" Ruby asked with a nervous tone in her voice, obviously worried about her boyfriend.

"Ruby, that's all I was doing, ok?" Jarryd then kissed Ruby's forehead softly. "Now go back to bed, please?" Ruby had a small blush on her face from the kiss as she nodded and went to her bed, as Jarryd did the same.

 **Stadium - Next Day**

As Team RWBY walked up to their normal spots, they saw Summer, Taiyang, John, and even Qrow waiting for them, the team took their seats as John started giving Jarryd a noogie as a congratulations for his previous match, Summer and Taiyang also gave Ruby and Yang a congratulatory hug for advancing to the next round. Professor Port's voice came over the loudspeaker again.

"Hello and welcome all to the third day of the Vytal Festival Tournament" The crowd roared with applause from this announcement as Port waited for the crowd to settle down before continuing. "Now, for this round of the tournament, we are going to try something a little different...Oobleck?" Port gestured to Oobleck, who started to speak amongst the crowds confusion.

"Yes, though a subtle change, it will change each combatants preparation time, because we are now making those in the fourth bracket go first, and those in the first bracket go last, so now the tournament is in reverse order!" Oobleck said fast over the microphone, but justs slow enough so people could understand what he said. Everyone had their confusion cleared up once it was explained, Jarryd realized that meant he would go first out of him, Ruby, and Yang. After the first matches went by, the third bracket was up, and Jarryd's name was called.

"Next, Jarryd Starks VS Andrew Blink!" Jarryd was shocked to hear his opponent's name at first, but then smirked.

"Well, I'm up…" He got out of his chair and turned to everyone there "Wish me luck." He gave everyone a salute as they all said their respective best wishes, Jarryd then made his way down to the arena, where Andrew was on the other side, they both looked to each other and gave a smirk.

"Well Jarryd, didn't think we'd met again like this!" Andrew yelled from across the battlefield, which was beginning to take shape into multiple landscapes.

"I could say the same to you Andrew, now we'll see who's the better man." Jarryd unsheathed his sword and unholstered one revolver.

"Oh come on Jarryd, we both know the answer there…" Andrew teased while running a hand through his hair. Jarryd gave a quick huff.

"You wish man…" Jarryd replied as the arena finally finished forming, which had a desert landscape, a plain, a mountainous area, and an arctic area. Andrew stepped onto the field.

"Well how about we settle this now…?" Andrew yelled back in question, Jarryd then stepped onto the field as well.

"Let's do this..."

 **Port and Oobleck's Broadcast Booth (Think of a sports broadcast)**

"Welcome back to the Vytal Tournament everyone, where we are about to watch Beacon's Jarryd Starks go toe-to-toe with Atlas's own Andrew Blink! And partner what do you think about this matchup?" Port turned to Doctor Oobleck who had a smile on his face.

"Well Peter, I think that this will be possibly one of today's most exciting match, if not **the** most exciting! Mr. Starks has quite the tactical mind, and can come up with a plan for almost any situation. But Mr. Blink is an interesting case, in the first round he barely squeaked by, but in the second round he pretty much obliterated one of the top first year students a Beacon, Mr. Blink is unpredictable. I say what this match will come down to is the uses of their semblances, Mr. Starks has shown that he can use his Hydrokinesis, such as offense, defence and even field advantages like we saw in his win over Ms. Katt. While we don't know the full potential of Mr. Blink's 'Shadow of Abyss' as he calls it, it could surprise us today…" Oobleck said at his normal fast pace as he looked back to Port.

"Now we take you down to the field where this match will get underway…"

 **Stadium Battlefield**

Both Jarryd and Andrew stood across from each other, weapons at the ready and prepared to strike. Port's voice showed up yet again to start the countdown.

"3…"

Jarryd quickly looked around at his surroundings and started to form a plan.

"2…"

He thought 'Those shadows are gonna be tough to avoid from long range, I'll have to try and stay close for the most part, until I can use _that_ '

"1...Go!" Once the signal was given, both Jarryd and Andrew charged at each other and once they were within distance, they both swung at each other. Crimson Fury and Black Cardinal connected and engaged in a power struggle as sparks flew off both weapons. Andrew had enough of the struggle and pushed Jarryd a few feet away, to a point where he could still hit him with Black Cardinal, Andrew first swung his halberd sideways near Jarryd's legs, Jarryd had just recovered from the push in time to hop over the swipe, Andrew tried the same thing again, this time aiming for the torso, which Jarryd avoided by ducking under it. Jarryd just had enough time to look up and see Andrew swinging his weapon over his head and towards him, Jarryd rolled to the side as the large blade cut into the ground where he once stood. Jarryd saw an opening and jumped onto the handle of Black Cardinal, somehow maintaining balance as he slashed Andrew across the chest. Andrew scowled as he swung Black Cardinal upwards, sending Jarryd flying behind him.

Jarryd landed safely and looked to see Black Cardinal changing into it's crossbow form and Andrew quickly fired off an arrow in Jarryd's direction, which he sidestepped out of the way. Many more arrows came firing as fast as Andrew could load them, and Jarryd dodged them with ease, during one load, Andrew smirked as he fired another arrow at Jarryd, this time landing in the dirt in front of him, Jarryd began to snicker.

"Your aim gets worse as we keep fighting!" He yelled across to his white-haired friend and opponent, who was still smirking.

"Believe me Jarryd, I didn't miss…" Andrew retorted, Jarryd wondered what he had meant and looked at the arrow that landed before him, the sharp projectile was starting to flash red. Jarryd's eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen next, he looked behind himself to see that the edge of the field was right behind him, so he jumped to the right just in time to steer clear of the explosion that happened. Jarryd fell on his shoulder onto some sand, he got up and saw he was in the desert section of the morphed battlefield. Jarryd didn't get time to process everything though, as Andrew ran up to him and gave Jarryd a kick in the stomach, folding him over. Andrew raised his halberd above his head again and struck downwards, only for Jarryd to roll out of the way again and hold his own weapon to the ground. Jarryd saw an opening and stuck the tip of Crimson Fury into the sand, he then gave Andrew a kick to the stomach in return and swung his blade upwards, sending the sand into Andrew's eyes.

Andrew put one hand up to his eyes and staggered backwards, Jarryd took his opportunity and struck Andrew across the chest with his sword, he then dumped out one of his water canisters, and sent the water into Andrew at full force, blasting him to the other side of the battlefield.

 **Stadium Stands - Team RWBY and Parents**

"That's right Jarryd! hit 'em where it hurts!" John, who was standing up in his seat, yelled towards his son, who couldn't hear him.

"That was amazing, he's using the environments to his advantage!" Ruby said in awe at her boyfriend's tactical prowess.

"Yeah, and this Andrew kid isn't a slouch either." Yang said in response to her sister. "But Jarryd seems like he's got this!" Yang continued, also admiring the skills of the person she calls her brother.

"Well, he **is** from Atlas, they don't train people there to be slouches, Yang! This is what I was talking about when I said more militaristic!" Weiss added on, watching Andrew's moves carefully, seeing if he truly did fight like one from Atlas.

"The fight still seems far from over, we can't say who will win until the end…" Blake replied as the four girls nodded at their black-clad teammate's reasoning. Taiyang and Summer were also watching the fight with interest.

"I gotta admit, the kid can hold his own…" Taiyang said to his wife, who started to giggle.

"Taiyang, if he couldn't hold his own, he wouldn't be at Beacon, much less going out with Ruby." Summer quipped with a closed-eye smile, making Taiyang smile lightly as he went into his thoughts.

'I never truly got to thank the kid for bringing her back…' Taiyang thought 'But I can tell that he will fit right into the family…' He thought of this while looking at his daughter, who had starry eyes, Taiyang heard another yell and looked to see John, still standing up and screaming his support for his son. 'Now if I can get his father to shut up for a few minutes…'

 **With Jackson and Irene**

"Wow, those two are really going at it, aren't they?" Jackson said as he looked to his female teammate, who had her trademark smirk.

"Of course, I couldn't expect anything less of them, especially Jarryd…" Irene replied as she watched Jarryd's every move closely with eyes of a hawk, leaving Jackson creeped out.

"Umm...You ok, Irene? You seem to be obsessed with Jarryd since we first met him, you know he's taken right?" Jackson asked as Irene turned to him, smirk still on her face.

"I know, it's just that I find him so...interesting, to say the least." Irene answered, causing Jackson to slowly turn his head away from her while still keeping his eyes on the girl.

'Something is going on with her…' Jackson thought as he looked back to the fight between his friend and brother, as he was thinking this, a small headache hit him.

 **Stadium Battlefield**

Andrew crashed into the snow and ice of the arctic section of the field as he got up, recovering from the stream of water hitting him hard, when Andrew recovered he immediately activated 'Shadow of Abyss' and sent his own solidified shadow flying towards Jarryd. Jarryd tried his best to sidestep out of the way, but Andrew split up his shadows, eventually one was able to hit him, sending him backwards. Jarryd quickly got up again and started to speak.

"I've been hit by cannon blasts, and have even been hit full force by a Kraken, you think that's going to do much?" Jarryd yelled across, trying to aggravate to his opponent.

"Don't get cocky, that was just the tip of the spear!" Andrew yelled back, sending the solid shadows Jarryd's way again. This time, Jarryd was able to jump in between the gaps created by the shadows, he held up his revolver trying to get a good lock on Andrew as he fired a few times. Andrew was able to dodge the bullets heading his way as Andrew created a wall with his shadows to defend himself. Jarryd stopped his momentum as he wondered what Andrew was doing behind his shield, he got his answer when he heard an explosion from behind the wall and saw Andrew be propelled upward, as he hung in the air for a second doing a mid air pose, making some girls in the crowd swoon, and the other members of the audience to sweat drop. Andrew got serious again and fell towards the ground with Black Cardinal above his head, as he swung once he was near the ground, Jarryd jumped out of the way just in time as a crater formed where Andrew had landed.

As Jarryd recovered, he looked over at Andrew, who had already changed his weapon back into it's crossbow form as he fired an arrow, Jarryd wasn't able to react quick enough as the arrow stuck him straight in the leg, sticking out of him. The crowd gave a collective gasp, as Jarryd fumbled around for a water canister and threw it on the ground, he then used the water to form a shield around himself as he used a free hand to try and pry the arrow out of his leg. Andrew didn't waste any time trying to break the water shield, as he sent his shadows crashing against the dome of water, which held back the shadows. Jarryd was finally able to pull the sharp weapon out of his leg, leaving a deep, blood-filled, gash on his shin, at this time, the dome of water slowly gave out, Jarryd jumped away again as the shadows broke through the water shield, sending puddles of water to every corner of the field.

Jarryd gave a small yelp of pain as he landed, feeling the pain shoot up from his right let, where he had been hit. Andrew began to snicker.

"Well, seeing as your mobility is cut short, I think I've got this…" Andrew yelled as he charged forward with Black Cardinal.

"You wish…" Jarryd replied under his breath with a smirk. Once Andrew got close enough to swipe, he got into the motion.

"Sorry about this…" Andrew said softly as he swung his weapon at Jarryd, who seemed to duck under it, but when Andrew looked downwards, Jarryd wasn't there, just a puddle. The crowd gasped at what they had seen, Andrew was still confused as to what happened, he looked all over the field for his opponent, but he was nowhere to be found. After a few more seconds, Andrew heard a shot from behind him, he turned his head too late and was hit by a bullet traced with electric dust, shocking Andrew. Once the shock faded away, Andrew looked up to see Jarryd, at the other side of the field with a smirk.

"Miss me?" Jarryd yelled across as the crowd gasped again. Andrew was dumbfounded as to how Jarryd moved so fast.

"What the...how did you do that?!" Andrew yelled back to Jarryd, who just smirked again.

"A trick with my semblance that I learned not to long ago…" He replied, referring to the black cloaked stranger, who taught him this ability before he went back up to his dorm room, but nobody else knew this.

"But I don't see any water!" Andrew yelled again, still confused as to the sequence of events that just took place.

"Look below you…" Jarryd pointed to the ground below Andrew, he looked and saw the decently sized puddle from before, it all started to make sense to Andrew now. Andrew looked up and saw that Jarryd wasn't in his former spot, another loud bang was heard, Andrew knew better this time, he rolled out of the way and looked towards the source of the sound, which was of course, Jarryd. Andrew looked to the ground below Jarryd and saw another puddle, about the same size as the one he was standing above before, Andrew put two and two together.

"You can transport yourself using the water!" Andrew yelled out as his answer, Jarryd was still smirking.

"Bingo…" Jarryd responded as he sank into the puddle below him and reappeared at another puddle near the mountain terrain of the field and fired another shot, which Andrew avoided again. This sequence continued, as Jarryd transported himself between the puddles scattered all over the battlefield, as Andrew rolled out of the way of many of the bullets, as he was forced towards the center. Jarryd unsheathed his sword again and transported again, this time to the center where Andrew was, Jarryd swung his sword down diagonally and horizontally and struck Andrew, Jarryd then kicked him in the stomach again and did a full turn, aiming his revolver and pulling the trigger, sending an explosive bullet right into Andrew's chest. Andrew was sent flying from the explosion, and he flew out of the arena with his weapon, landing on his stomach. Jarryd looked up to the big screen and saw that Andrew's aura had reached red, while his own was still in yellow. Jarryd sheathed his sword and holstered his gun, waiting for the announcement.

"Jarryd Starks wins!" As Port yelled this, the crowd erupted in cheers and applause, Jarryd breathed heavily, knowing he could relax now, he pumped his fist in victory as he looked up towards his teammates, Yang, Blake, Weiss, Summer and Taiyang were all clapping and cheering, while Ruby and his father were jumping up and down in celebration. He pointing towards the group, showing he acknowledged them as he rushed to help Andrew to his feet. As he grabbed Andrew's arm and pulled him up, Andrew grabbed his weapon and gave a sigh.

"I really should have known you would have had a plan…" Andrew said, seeming disappointed.

"Hey man, you did great, I'm sure if I made one wrong move, our roles would be reversed." Jarryd replied, giving Andrew a pat on the back as he nodded, both of the combatants parted their separate ways and made their way towards the stairs.

 **Andrew, Jackson, and Irene**

As Andrew made his way back to his team, he received a few pats on the back from strangers, congratulating him for his effort, once at his seat, Jackson immediately got up and gave his brother a bear hug.

"Andy, that was great, you did really well out there!" Jackson said, holding his brother tight, Andrew wanted to reply, but he couldn't get much out.

"Jackson...can't...breath!" Andrew wheezed out, making Jackson let go of him right away, as he put his hand behind his head in embarrassment.

"Sorry Andy, I was just overexcited y'know." Jackson laughed along with Andrew, Irene chuckled a bit in the background.

"I know Jackson…" Andrew walked over to his spot and sat down, it was Irene's turn to speak.

"You fought well, Andrew" Irene started as she looked back out to the field as two new fighters walked on. "It's a shame you didn't win though…" Andrew gave a soft smile.

"Irene, winning isn't everything" Andrew looked out to the field as well. "In this case, I think the better man won…"

 **With Team RWBY and Parents**

As Jarryd walked up the stairs, he received a lot of applause from those in the crowd, he gave them a light hearted smile as he continued walking, when he reached his team, he was nearly tackled by Ruby as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh my gosh, that was amazing, you were all like…" Ruby the proceeded to wave her hands around in the air in some sort of fighting motion, making Jarryd chuckle as he ruffled her hair.

"Thanks Ruby, I only got to this point because of you all." He bent down a gave Ruby a kiss on her forehead, causing Ruby to blush as Jarryd was about to sit down, before he was grabbed by his father.

"That was great, my boy, you really showed him what for!" John told his son as he gave him another noogie, Jarryd just laughed.

"Dad, do you have to do this every time I win a match…" Jarryd said as he got free of his father's grasp.

"Aw come on now, can't a father be proud of his son?" John asked with a smile.

"I guess so." As Jarryd said this, Taiyang walked up to the two.

"Well, I'm gonna grab a drink…" He then looked to Jarryd. "And you must be pretty thirsty after running around for so long...:" Jarryd noticed that he gave him a look that said 'Come with me.' not wanting to make the man angry, he agreed.

"Let's go get something then!" Jarryd said with a smile, Taiyang looked at Jarryd out of the corner of his eye, gave a smile and nodded, he then turned around to everyone else.

"Anyone else want something?" Taiyang asked, a few people answered.

"I'll take anything with liquor in it." John said while still holding his son.

"I'll have milk." Blake answered.

"Lemonade please!" Ruby yelled to her father.

"Anyone else?" Taiyang asked, taking the orders to his memory, nobody spoke up. "Alright, let's go." He tapped Jarryd on the shoulder as they both went down the stairs towards the concessions. When Taiyang and Jarryd got the drinks, they were starting to walk back when Taiyang stopped. "I'm guessing you've realized that this isn't just a drink run." Jarryd knew what he was talking about and turned to face Ruby and Yang's father.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that." Jarryd replied, taking a sip of his Dr. Papaya **(A/N Because copyright)**

"Well kid…" Taiyang started, looking to the side. "I never got a chance to thank you." Jarryd was confused when he said this, he wondered what Taiyang needed to thank him for.

"Thank me? What for?" Jarryd asked, Taiyang only gave him a stern look.

"For bringing my wife home, you moron!" Taiyang scolded, Jarryd came to the realization of what he was saying, and gave the same answer he gave everyone.

"I was just doing my job, Mr. Xiao Long, nothing more." Jarryd replied with a small smile, Taiyang still had a stern look.

"Don't give me that crap, kid! From what I've heard, you sailed across the sea, faught an Aumakua underwater, killed a Beowolf in just a few moves, and found her. Just doing my job my ass!" Taiyang joked as he hit Jarryd in the arm and the two laughed. After the two finished their laughter, Taiyang gave Jarryd another smile. "And I'll let you know, I do approve of you and Ruby dating…" Jarryd's eyes widened in surprise, as he now had full permission from Ruby's father.

"T-Thank you, Mr. Xiao Long!" Jarryd stuttered out, making Taiyang laugh again.

"Please, call me Taiyang…" Taiyang said as he ruffled Jarryd's hair, then Taiyang started to laugh again. "So, should I be expecting any grandkids soon…" Taiyang teased the young boy, who face faulted in embarrassment.

"Now I see why you and Summer got married in the first place…"

 **ANNND DONE!**

 **Finally, I got it out!**

 **Funny enough, I got most of this stuff done while I was sick and away from school, and I decided to make this chapter short so I could get it out to you guys sooner.**

 **And I have changed my mind on things if you guys read this little note at the end of every chapter, I said before that there would be a final battle for Beacon….yeah I lied, after seeing what they are doing in Volume 4 (Which is really good so far) I've decided that there will be a Volume/Season 2 of this fic.**

 **And some of you might have noticed I got rid of the Bio chapter, I realized that readers don't like that crap, so I deleted it, and I've already gotten more views and a few more followers.**

 **I Hope to work on the next chapter soon and get it out to you guys, but until then.**

 **SEE YA!**


	13. Chapter 13

**What's up guys! Happy New Year!**

 **So, before we get started, I wanna say some things about the future of this fic.**

 **First off, I can't thank everyone who tuned in to this story and have been with me all the way throughout the time of writing this fic, and I DO have fairly big plans for it in the future, starting off with the aforementioned Season/Volume 2.**

 **Chapter wise, Season 2 will probably be shorter, and won't be finished until Volume 4 actually ends so I can get plot details right, but I will be making the most of the opportunity. And after this fic, I'll probably be helping someone work on their fic, then I'll get back to a new fic that I will try to get out fairly quick.**

 **And...as much as I hate to do this...please review and favorite, maybe add this to a community if you enjoy the story...ugh, hate selfishly promoting that crap.**

 **Disclaimer: Do I really have to keep saying it? *Lawyers point pistols at my head* Ok! Ok! I'll say it...I do not own RWBY in any way shape or form, everything except the OC's belong to RoosterTeeth (And props to them for actually using profanity in Volume 4, gives me more freedom in the future)**

 **Anyway...LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

"Now I see why you and Summer got married in the first place…"

Taiyang just laughed off the comment as he slapped Jarryd on the back, spilling drops of his drink in the process. "We got married for more reasons than that, I can tell you!" Taiyang managed to say in between laughs, even Jarryd chuckled a bit before both of both of the males heard footsteps running towards them. Taiyang looked to his right before patting Jarryd on the back. "Good luck with this, kid…" Taiyang said before walking off. Jarryd was just confused until he looked to his right, his eyes widening as he saw a woman wearing a business suit and carrying a microphone, being followed by a larger man with a camera resting on his shoulders. Jarryd knew what was about to happen.

"Crap…" he muttered to himself as the woman with the microphone ran up to him and began to speak.

"Excuse me, Mr. Starks, can we ask you a few questions for the viewers back home?" The woman asked as Jarryd began to sweat, he was frozen, he didn't know how to react in this situation, so he said only one word.

"S-Sure." Jarryd stuttered out as he mentally slapped himself, knowing what he just got himself into.

"Great!" She yelled out as she stood next to him with her microphone ready. "We just have to wait for the guys in the studio to send the feed down to us." She said as the camera guy set down a monitor that showed a live feed with 5 men sitting behind a large desk, Jarryd heard them talking about his battle with Andrew. After a few minutes of talking, they turned to the camera as an older looking male spoke to the cameras.

"Speaking of Jarryd Starks, our own Abby Boyd is down with the Beacon student right now. Abby?" The camera man lifted up his camera and pointed it at Jarryd and the now known Abby. The TV feed then switched over to him and Abby, who had a smile on her face as she began to speak.

"Thanks Tom, I'm here with Jarryd Starks after his incredible win against Andrew Blink." Abby turned to Jarryd with her microphone. "Jarryd, Andrew was a quite the tough opponent, did you have a set plan to beat him?" Abby then put the microphone up to his mouth, expecting him to answer, Jarryd just went along with it and spoke off the top of his head.

"Well...I wouldn't say I had a 'set plan' for him, Andrew and I are friends off the field, so this was sort of a friendly rivalry. But no, since I was still walking up the stairs back to my seat when he won his last match I couldn't make a plan for him. So going into the fight, I didn't want to have to adapt to him, I wanted him to adapt to my style of fighting, and I think that helped." He answered truthfully, making Abby smile. The TV feed then turned to the one Abby called Tom on one side of the screen, and him on the other.

"Now Jarryd, you joined Beacon about 1 month into the year, and were quickly put on a team, but you have quite the resume since joining Beacon. From what we heard, you've thwarted operations run by Roman Torchwick, the master criminal!" Jarryd only looked down and nodded at the praise as Tom continued. "How much has Beacon helped you become the warrior you are today?" Jarryd smiled as it was his turn to speak, he knew exactly what to say.

"Oh a ton, Beacon has helped me so much over my first year here, not just physically but mentally as well...I've sort of come out of my shell, in a way. I grew up around the same group of people for a long time, so getting to meet many other students who are there for their talents along with me, it's a life changer." Jarryd answered confidently as Tom asked another question.

"On the topic of other students, have there been many that have competed in this tournament that you are really close to?" Tom asked, seeming like he already knew the answer, Jarryd responded quickly."

"Oh yeah!" He answered confidently. "My girlfriend Ruby is still in the competition, along with her sister Yang, both of them being my teammates, along with Blake Belladonna and Weiss Schnee. I'm also fairly close with Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos, who is also still going." Tom was smiling as he spoke up again.

"You've formed quite a lot of friendships, and a little something more with the leader of your team…" Jarryd blushed a bit and nodded in agreement. "One final question before you go, do you think it's possible for you to take this thing all the way?" Tom asked, Jarryd knew he was talking about the tournament and whether or not he could win.

"You know...I can't really underestimate anybody I have to fight, but I do feel confident in myself and my abilities, now if Ruby, Yang, or Pyrrha can get there as well…" He trailed off, with the men at the table chuckling along with him as they understood his point.

"Well Jarryd, we'll let you go celebrate with your team, good luck out there."

"Thank you." Jarryd said with a nod before he began to run back upstairs, he heard Abby addressing the cameras after he ran off.

"Well, Jarryd Starks will end up facing the winner of this next match between Harrison Allen and Jack Knight." Abby's mention of the latter's first name made him slow down.

"Jack…" Jarryd mumbled to himself, recalling the name of his former best friend, Jarryd recalled the scene of Jack being impaled in his head again, and the words he said on his deathbed.

" _Even though not by blood, I have a-always...thought of you...as...my...brother"_ Jarryd heard Jack say in his head as he died right in front of him, he then remembered what happened afterwards, Jack told him to be the best huntsmen and pirate he could be, and to get a girlfriend. Jarryd smirked as he knew he accomplished the last wish, but he stopped when he thought of the first two. He knew he would try and be a great huntsmen, but he wasn't sure about pirate. Jarryd unsheathed his sword in the staircase and just stared at the dark red cutlass.

"Being pirates...that's what got you killed, Jack." Jarryd was in his own head at the moment. "Right now I'm fighting for the world to be at peace, yet all we did while at sea was fight with the Navy...but it's the life I grew up with." Jarryd then sheathed his sword again and began to walk up the stairs slowly, still thinking. 'What am I even going to do once I'm out of Beacon, go back to sea and leave everything behind…' Jarryd thought as he remembered that his 18th birthday would be in a few months, he then shook these negative thoughts and ran up the stairs back to his seat. Yang was the first to spy him on his way back.

"There he is, Mr. Man-of-the-hour. How was your interview?" Yang teased, Jarryd responded by rolling his eyes and punching her in the shoulder lightly as he sat down and watched the rest of the current match between Harrison Allen and Jack Knight, the battle ended when Harrison slammed his hammer into Jack's back, sending him flying out of the battlefield, the scene again reminded Jarryd of the strike that ended his friend Jack's life. Jarryd's head went lower as the crowd cheered for the student wielding the giant hammer, Ruby noticed his sulking and nudged his elbow, making him turn to look at her.

"What's up?" Ruby asked, Jarryd knew what she was asking, as his mood was out in the open to everyone who wanted to see. Jarryd didn't want to break down on his explanation, so he thought of something.

"I'll tell you later, on the balcony tonight…" Ruby just tilted her head and cocked her eyebrow in confusion, but nodded in agreement as the rest of the matches with no interest went by, Pyrrha easily beat her opponent to advance, which meant Yang was up next against a student from Haven named Braxton Washington. Yang jumped down to the field to get set for the match as Braxton showed up a minute later, with a strap wrapped around his arms, and his hands gripped on the object attached to the strap. Yang looked closely at what she presumed was his weapon, seemingly unimpressed.

"So, you're gonna beat me up with sticks, eh tough guy?" Yang taunted Braxton, who's face had a blank expression on it as he walked towards the inner circle, Braxton then put his weapons in a cross patterns up to his face. He began to speak in a monotone voice.

"Shut up" He brought his arms down, as foot-length blades shot out of the ends of his 'sticks' as Yang had called them. "And let's go…" He continued in the same tone. Yang took a step back in shock at the transformation the weapons had made.

"Wow." Yang said as she regained composure. "Didn't see that one coming." Yang got into her fighting stance as they heard the countdown, then Port said the word.

"Go!" At the signal, both teens rushed towards each other without thought as Yang's golden gauntlets collided with Braxton's elbow blades, causing sparks to fly all around the two. Both fighters broke the struggle as the two began to swing at each other from all angles at a rapid pace, after a minute, the two had connected on hits few times, and locked their weapons once again.

 **Stadium Stands**

"Get 'em Yang!" Ruby yelled to her sister, who was unable to hear her. Blake and Weiss were silently cheering as Jarryd was analysing the situation.

"With those blades and their position, for Yang to block them, she had to use her wrists, leaving almost no chance to attack if he is able to get multiple attacks in at once. It's better if she tries to dodge so she can stay on the offensive…" He said to himself as he watched Yang and Braxton fight, everyone was unaware to Professor Ozpin walking towards the team.

"But an excellent defense makes an excellent offense, Mr. Starks." Ozpin said as the entire team jumped.

"Professor Ozpin, what are you doing here?" Weiss asked what was on everyone's mind.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, especially during one of your teammates matches, but I need to borrow Mr. Starks again, it will take the rest of the day. I hope that it will not be a problem." Jarryd looked down to Yang as she was fighting, then over to Ruby, who nodded her head in approval.

"Alright." Jarryd agreed as he went over to Ruby and kissed her on the forehead. "Message me about who wins, and kick some ass out there for me!" He told Ruby, who giggled in response and nodded again. Jarryd got up and followed Ozpin out of the stadium, some female students from other schools giving him flirtatious looks, he shrugged off such looks and followed Ozpin to a nearby airship. The door opened to the ship, revealing 3 figures he didn't expect. Qrow, Professor Goodwitch, and General Ironwood. Jarryd stopped in his tracks and had his eyes widen looking at the people waiting for him. Ozpin stopped outside of the ship and turned to Jarryd with a smile.

"Well, are you coming?" Ozpin said, Jarryd shook himself out of his stupor and nodded as he and Ozpin climbed aboard, sitting next to each other with the other 3 across from them. The door to the airship shut and they quickly took off. The group was silent during most of the trip, before Qrow finally spoke up.

"I'm guessing you have no clue about what's going on, do you kid?" Qrow asked Jarryd, who looked towards everybody and shook his head no.

"Good, if you did, we would have a serious problem…" Ironwood continued off of Qrow's thoughts, leaving Jarryd confused.

"Wait, what-" Jarryd tried to say, but he was cut off.

"What we are trying to say is that the information we are about to tell you once we get to Beacon is highly classified." Professor Goodwitch added on, Ozpin then began to join the conversation as well.

"Glynda is right Mr. Starks, you will be one among few people to know of this secret."

"Why is that? And why me of all people?" Jarryd asked the group of 4 around him, Qrow just gave him a stern look.

"Because what we are about to tell you is a secret that has kept all of Remnant safe…" Ozpin then continued off of Qrow's thoughts.

"And as to 'Why you'...You might be directly involved in this secret." Jarryd's eyes widened again after hearing this, he was involved in something that could endanger the whole world. Ironwood then noticed that they were about to land.

"Well, here we are…" Ironwood said as the ship landed and the doors opened, revealing the beacon courtyard. The group of adults stepped out along with Jarryd, they all began to walk towards the school. Many of the students that walked by either gave a loud cheer or applause towards Jarryd, even Cardin showed him kindness by giving him a high five. Jarryd was stunned as he just looked at his hand, Ozpin began to chuckle.

"With how well, you've fought in the tournament, you've become an idol to many of the students, a role model if you will." Ozpin replied. Jarryd was still confused as to why.

"I don't understand why…"

"Kid, you weren't even a student at the beginning of the school year, you came out of nowhere, and you just started kicking ass. You're an inspiration, your story makes people believe that they can do anything." Qrow added on as he took a drink from his flask, Jarryd was left with one last question.

"Then does that mean they all know-"

"No, the students don't know of your origins, but they do know you joined the school a month into the year." Ironwood said, cutting Jarryd off.

"I still do not know why you want to keep your backstory secret, your peers would have no problem with it. In fact, your popularity would most likely skyrocket…" Glynda said, turning her head back to Jarryd, with her usual frown.

"Professor Goodwitch, I didn't come to this school to be in some popularity contest." Jarryd responded.

"Then what are you here for, Mr. Starks?" Ozpin questioned, leaving Jarryd confused again.

"Weren't you there, Ozpin? I'm here so I can face whatever is thrown my way once I graduate." Jarryd said, wondering if Ozpin forgot what happened the first day they met.

"That may have been your goal before, but what about _now_ , Mr. Starks. Has your goal changed?" Ozpin asked, causing Jarryd to stop and think for a minute. The entire group stopped and waited for an answer.

"Well...when I first came here, I only wanted to get stronger to be able to hold together what my father started…" He stared off to the right, avoiding eye contact. "But after staying here for as long as I have, this isn't just about me anymore. There are too many people on this world who live in fear of Grimm and people like the White Fang." The adult all turned to one another and smiled, understanding where he was going with his thoughts. "This world and it's people need protecting, and that's what I intend to do, help protect it." Jarryd finished, looking to everyone in the room with a determined face, Ozpin gave another small smirk.

"Well said, Mr. Starks...Well said." Ozpin then turned back and continued walking. "We'd better get moving, this is very important." The rest of the group began to follow Ozpin as Jarryd felt a buzz in his pocket, coming from his scroll. He grabbed it and saw a message from Ruby.

 _Yang won her match, wish me luck!_ The message read, Jarryd smiled and quickly typed a reply.

 _Great, you've got this!_ He sent the message and put the scroll in his pocket, and ran over to the others, who were entering an elevator, the same one that went to the headmasters office.

"So, what are we going to your office for, Professor?" Jarryd asked with a confused look, Ozpin smirked again.

"We aren't going to my office…" Ozpin said as he pushed a button on the elevator, below the one that sent people upwards. Jarryd's eyes widened and looked towards Ozpin.

"Where are we-" Jarryd was cut off by the elevator shaking as it began to move down, Goodwitch then spoke up.

"Mr. Starks, have you heard the legend of the four maidens?" Glynda asked, Jarryd who was still in shock, but still heard her.

"Maidens? Never heard of anything like that…"

"Good, you're not supposed to…" General Ironwood said in response. Qrow took another sip of whiskey as he spoke up.

"Well prepare for a history lesson…" Qrow stepped forward as best he could. "A long time ago there was a hermit, you see. One day, he was visited by four girls who were sisters, who were very kind to him. The first girl encouraged him to meditate and reflect, the second brought him flowers to revive his garden, the third taught him how to really embrace the world around him, the fourth told him to be thankful for what he has…" Qrow continued.

"Ok, but what does this have to do with me?" Jarryd asked Ruby's uncle.

"I wasn't finished, now pay attention." Qrow said with a stern look. "After helping the hermit, he thanked these four girls by granting them great power. These girls became the embodiment of the four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. These powers have now been passed on through generations, eventually reaching this one…"

"This still doesn't answer my question…why am I involved in this?"

"Ok, ok, I'll get to the point…" Qrow took another shot before continuing. "After some people learned about this power, they wanted it for themselves, finding ways to kill the Maiden's reincarnations, taking their power." Ozpin began to speak then.

"Fearing what would happen if this power got into the wrong hands, we have worked to erase the legend of the Maidens from history, so nobody could use this power for the wrong reasons." Glynda then picked up where Ozpin left off.

"As you can probably imagine, someone found out about this power, and tracked down one of the maidens and tried to steal her power, before Qrow jumped in, severing the connection. The maiden had some of her powers stolen, but not all of it, if this girl were to die, all of that power may go to the attacker." Ironwood jumped in this time.

"Qrow managed to get the girl on life support to keep her somewhat alive, in a comatose state… and now where you come in…" Just then, the door opened, revealing a long, dark hallway, revealing 2 gigantic machines. One of these machines had many silver tubes connected to it, the other showing a gigantic circle with what looked like a sink attached to it. Jarryd didn't know how to react.

"What is this…?" Jarryd asked, exiting the elevator.

"The glue that holds the world together…" Ozpin answered as everyone else walked out, Ironwood continued.

"As I was saying, this is where you come in. Archeologists recently dug in a location that used to be a village hundreds of years ago, and after we found out about this and did a bit more research, there was more to the story of the maidens than we thought…" Ironwood said as the adults walked over to the machine with the gigantic circle formation. Professor Goodwitch spoke next.

"You see, what we found out is during the early days of the maidens, they were in a crisis like us right now, people with evil intentions looking to rule the world, and the maidens power couldn't stop them alone." The lone woman spoke.

"So...what happened?" Jarryd asked, wanting to know more of the story and why he was involved.

"Back then, the village where this enormous…'thing' was found, nobody knew what it was back then, before a monk showed up and told the villagers that two men from that village would become heroes to fight alongside the maidens. The monk told them that the men would have to cut themselves and drain their blood into this…" Qrow said as he pointed to the front of the machine, the part that looked like a sink. "The circle would light up one of two colors, blue or yellow, or it wouldn't light at all. If it didn't light, you weren't it. But if it did light, you were one of those heroes, if it glowed blue, you were the embodiment of the moon, if it was yellow, you were the sun." This news shocked Jarryd, two people were the living embodiments of the sun and the broken moon that hovered over Remnant.

"Are you serious? Two men from this random village were the living versions of the gigantic sources of light in the sky?!" Jarryd yelled out in questioning.

"That's right" Ozpin intervened. "These 'orbital guardians' as the monk called them were destined to become some of the strongest heroes in the world at the time. The village chief's sons, both teenagers decided to attempt this after many men had failed, when they had tried, Bulan, the older sibling, had the circle glow blue, knowing he was the moon guardian. The younger brother, Matahari, had it glow yellow, signaling he was the sun guardian." Ozpin explained the story in detail. Jarryd was somewhat catching on.

"Ok, I get the story, but again, what do I have to do with this…?" He asked one final time, Ironwood gave the answer.

"You see, since the maidens power is being stolen, we are looking for something, anything to help us combat this person stealing the maiden's powers. We think that you might have what it takes to be one of these guardians…we just need to test it." Ironwood explained, looking at the machine, Jarryd was confounded, they wanted him to be someone who could help save the world, he didn't know how to react.

"B-But, why me?" He asked himself, then out loud. Ozpin was the one to answer.

"Because every time there has been something that could threaten those you care about, you end up being the one to protect them, and you always seem to come out on top. You are already powerful, one of the best I've ever had come to this school, if I must say…" Ozpin said before walking to the machine. "So, will you attempt it?"

Jarryd thought the situation over for a minute, remember what he said about his changed goal since he came to the school. His mind was made up.

"Yeah, I'll try it…" Jarryd answered walking up the the machine, the adults all smiled, except Qrow, he just took another drink.

"Excellent…" Ozpin gestured to the sink part of the machine. "I believe you know what to do…"

Jarryd stopped in front of the machine and unsheathed his sword, deactivating his aura in the process. He took a deep breath as he held his hand over the bowl, sword over his open palm. He took one more breath and shut his eyes tight, slicing his hand open with his own sword. Blood started to gush out of his hand at a rapid pace, he muttered curse words that were worse than what he usually spoke and quickly clenched his fist, causing the blood to flow into the bowl and through another tube. Jarryd reactivated his aura, quickly healing the large cut.

The blood went through the tube and was sent upwards, forming an outline around the circle, Jarryd was fully expecting nothing to happen, as the blood just sat there in its outline of the circle, then, the unthinkable happened. The blood then began to glow a bright blue, before the entire circle lit up with a blue glow. Jarryd backed up slowly, taking everything in, everyone else was doing the same. The glow eventually subsided after a few minutes, Jarryd turned to face everyone, Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch still had their mouths wide open, Qrow and Ozpin were just smirking. Jarryd looked down to his hand.

"No way…" He muttered, still in disbelief at what this meant. Ozpin put a hand on the young boy's shoulders.

"Congratulations young man…" Ozpin said, as the others had recovered from what happened, they all turned to Jarryd.

"So, what happens now?" Jarryd asked, looking around.

"Now, we wait…" Goodwitch said, with her normal expression.

"What!? What the hell are we waiting for?" Jarryd yelled out in question.

"Right now, out of the maidens and the orbital guardians, you're only the second we've found."

"Who was the first?" Jarryd asked, Qrow responded.

"Well you see, since the actual Fall Maiden is still alive, just in a coma, she still has half of her power. So when the time comes, your friend Pyrrha is gonna be the one to inherit that power." This news shocked the newly appointed guardian.

"Pyrrha's gonna be a maiden, huh." Jarryd calmed down and realized what had to happen now. "So now you all need time to formulate a plan to find the other maidens." He looked around to the higher-up's surrounding him.

"That's right, now you should get some rest, today has been quite eventful, and you have a match tomorrow against Mr. Allen." Jarryd heard the last name of the man who eliminated Weiss and the other student named Jack Knight, Jarryd furrowed his eyebrows at the mention of his next opponent, but controlled himself and agreed.

"Yeah, I'll get going...thank you." Jarryd said, giving a nod.

"No Mr. Starks, thank **you**...:" Ozpin replied, causing Jarryd to lightly smile and shake his head in amusement as he walked towards the elevator, Ozpin stopped him again. "Mr. Starks!"

"Yes?" Jarryd asked as he turned around.

"Please try to be...discreet about this matter, if you will?" Ozpin asked, Jarryd nodded and walked towards the elevator, hitting the button as the doors closed. As the elevator moved upwards, Jarryd felt another buzz in his pocket, which he knew came from his scroll, he guessed it was another message from Ruby. He opened his scroll as he confirmed his suspiscion.

 _I won! Now once we get back, let's meet on the balcony to talk, ok?_ Jarryd pumped his fist in the air after he found out he girlfriend won, he typed his reply.

 _Congratulations! Sure, I'll be waiting._ The elevator seemed to arrive at it's destination a lot quicker than when it went down. Jarryd stepped out of the elevator and walked to the balcony.

 **Minutes later**

Jarryd leaned on the balcony railing, arms folded across the rail. He stared out into the distance, as if expecting something to appear out of thin air. He was wondering how he was gonna explain what was going through his head at the moment.

'Do I try to make some sort of analogy, or do I just come right out and say it?' Jarryd was reminded of his confession of love to Ruby when he went through this thought process. "Man...Feelings suck." He muttered under his breath, he then heard small footsteps approaching, Jarryd lowered his head, he knew who it was.

"Hey…" Jarryd hear Ruby's voice say quietly, he responded without turning around.

"Hey." Ruby then appeared next to him, a look of worry on her face.

"So...what did you want to talk about?" Ruby asked, Jarryd looked to the ground below, not able to look Ruby in the eyes.

"Well, you know the match between the guy that knocked out Weiss and that Jack Knight kid?" He asked, not looking up from the ground, Ruby stood there, confused.

"Yeeaaahhh...Why?" She asked again, clueless as to what Jarryd was getting to, Jarryd got straight to the point.

"Think of the latter's first name…" Jarryd finally turned to face her, Ruby still didn't know what was going on.

"Jack? What's so special about his...name…" Ruby thought about it for a second, and realized what he meant, she remembered watching Jarryd cry as his friend Jack died in his arms. "Jarryd...I'm so sorry I didn't realize at first…"

"It's fine...It just haunts me…" Jarryd looked back out to the open air. "Watching the person that grew up with you, that was always there for you just die like that...and I did nothing to stop it…" He turned back to Ruby. "But that's besides the point, before he died, what he said to me was that he hoped I would become to greatest hunter and pirate I could be...but after thinking, I realized I can't be both…"

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked with her head tilted.

"As a pirate, all we did was attack the Navy, and we just robbed from other people. But when I arrived at Beacon, I was able to see things from a new perspective, these people need protectors, not another group of people for them to worry about taking everything from them…" Jarryd then looked down again. "I don't know what to do...deny my origins or give up the hunter's life?" Jarryd just hung his head low, Ruby's expression hadn't changed.

"The answer is simple, change them." Ruby said with a small smile on.

"What?" Jarryd asked, looking up from the ground.

"Change them. It's possible that you could turn The Red Band into a force for good, then you won't even have to worry about the Navy attacking you, you'll be on the same side. Ruby added on, patting Jarryd on the back and holding his hand.

"If only it were that easy, the guys on that ship have fought the Navy throughout most of their time on the crew, right now is the only time they've ever seen true peace with them, and it came right after one of their soldiers killed Jack. Plus, they want to live a life away from rules, they most likely couldn't live with those responsibilities of the law on them again…" Jarryd responded, holding both of Ruby's hands.

"You can find a way, I know you can…" A blush came to Ruby's cheeks as she said this. "And no matter which way you choose to go, I'll be right there with you…" These words shocked Jarryd, he then began to chuckle.

"Ruby Rose...what did I do to deserve you?" Jarryd asked as he wrapped his girlfriend in his arms.

"I could say the same…" Ruby said, somewhat muffled as her head was buried into his chest. "You were the one to find my mom, who we couldn't find after years of searching, I owe a lot of things to you-" Ruby was cut off as Jarryd bent down and kissed Ruby on the lips, which she melted into. They eventually parted after a few minutes.

"Come on, let's go to bed...we both have matches tomorrow to be ready for, and I'm pretty sure your mom will be there…" Jarryd said as he held Ruby's hand as they walked back to their dorm, laughing along the way.

Jarryd and Ruby had no awareness of the figure that was watching them from above; the stranger in the dark coat, who had been watching over Jarryd during his time at Beacon. He gave an audible scoff as he began to walk across the Beacon rooftop, pulling a picture out of his coat pocket. It was a picture of all of Team RWBY, Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Jarryd. His hand began to shake as he held the picture.

"I'll make things right everyone, I'll change things…" He said to himself, a single tear running down his face and into his beard.

"Just you wait."

 **Phew, even though this was a smaller chapter, this took A LOT of time…**

 **AND WHAT THE HELL ROOSTERTEETH, I SAY AT THE BEGINNING THAT I'M GONNA WAIT TILL VOLUME 4 ENDS TO FINISH VOLUME 2 (when I finish Volume 1 and eventually get to that…) AND HERE YOU GO ENDING VOLUME 4, SAYING THERE WILL BE VOLUME 5 IN THE FALL!**

 **Ok, I needed to get my frustration out...After learning these facts, I have decided that once I get to writing Volume 2, I shall create...MY OWN ENDING!**

 **DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUNNNN**

 **What I mean by this is that I get to write what I want, not caring about Volume 5 and creating my own chain of events (Gonna be tough since, believe it or not, I'm not the most creative person…)**

 **So thank you guys for even clicking on this fic, because it is my first one, and it means a lot to me…**

 **And with a few personal problems in my life, writing was the only way out of my depressed state…**

 **Sincerely, thank you all for tuning in...and happy Valentine's day to you all!**

 **-WhiteLightningWolf**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys...man I can't even be super energetic right now, I'm sort of emotional.**

 **All I can say to you guys is...thank you…**

 **The support from the reviews that I received on the last chapter was incredible, and trust me, I love reading your reviews. A lot of the time I'll get a fanfiction notification in the middle of one of my classes and I'll check it...seeing a positive review just makes my day so much better, knowing people out there that you don't even know appreciate what YOU write is the best feeling I've ever felt.**

 **I live in a very small town where pretty much nothing exciting happens, nobody from town becomes famous, but when I get all this support from people across the nation, even across the world, I feel like the king of the town. People like 5waydragon (I keep mentioning this guy.) even though I've never met him, he's pretty much a close friend at this point.**

 **This fic has changed my life for the better, because now I know that even the small-town high-school student from the frickin' Midwest can become something, even if it's a fanfiction writer.**

 **So once again, thank you guys for everything, it means the world to me.**

 **Of course...the disclaimer: I do NOT own RWBY or any of the characters the folks over at RoosterTeeth have created.**

 **But enough of the mushy crap...LET'S GET ON WITH IT!**

 **Beacon Training Room**

Jarryd, Ruby and Yang all stood together at the shooting range next to each other, Yang decided to be her usual self and gamble.

"Alright, everyone chip in five lien, whoever can take down every target in the fastest time gets the profits." Yang said with a smirk, leaving Jarryd and Ruby confused.

"Yang, do you need help with your betting obsession?" Jarryd asked, Ruby began to nod her head as well.

"Yeah, do you need help dealing with it, Yang?" Ruby asked her sister, who turned to them both with a scowl.

"It's not an obsession!" She yelled, pointing to Jarryd, then she pointed to her sister. "And no, I don't need help!" Yang yelled out, Jarryd just gave a sigh and pulled 5 Lien out of his pocket.

"Fine…" He set the Lien down, he then whispered to Ruby. "She's not going to give up, let's just go with it…" Ruby just nodded and put 5 Lien on the counter along with Yang.

"Sweet! All right, I'll go first!" Yang walked over to the range. "Jarryd get ready with the button and the timer." Jarryd did as told and walked over to a console, getting ready to press a button.

"Whenever you're ready, Yang." Jarryd looked over to Yang, who gave a nod. Jarryd pressed the button and 8 targets popped up, Yang didn't waste any time, punching the air, sending the shots her Ember Celica fired towards the target. One after another the targets fell. Once all the targets fell, Jarryd stopped the timer, and told her her time.

"9.34 seconds, Yang!" Jarryd yelled out, Yang's face lit up, already celebrating a victory.

"Well, you might as well give it up now you two, I don't think you can get much better than that." Yang boasted and Ruby walked up to the plate, Jarryd saw a big weakness.

"Damn, Ruby has a heavier weapon that takes a lot more time to fire, Yang tried to set this up so there would be no way she could lose…" He thought this a Ruby readied her weapon, giving the signal that she was ready. Jarryd hit the button again, 8 more targets popped up in different spots, Ruby immediately began firing, taking down the targets, but not at a faster pace than Yang. When all of the targets were down, Jarryd looked at the time.

"How'd I do?" Asked Ruby, who seemed to already know the answer, not as good as Yang.

"13.56 seconds…" Jarryd told his girlfriend, who then hung her head in disappointment, clearly not happy with her performance, Jarryd quickly rushed over to cheer her up. "Hey don't be upset, Yang rigged this against you, since you have the heavier weapon…" He whispered that last part so Yang wouldn't hear. Ruby looked up to her boyfriend.

"Then what about you?"

"I've got this…" Jarryd walked up to the counter and Yang went to the timer, Jarryd put a hand on both of his pistols, taking them out of their holsters.

"Ready?" Yang yelled towards him as he took a shooting stance, Jarryd gave a subtle nod as Yang pressed the button. Again, 8 targets popped up in new locations, Jarryd took a step forward and took aim with one revolver. He fired his shots quickly and accurately, about 3 seconds went by before 5 targets were down, Jarryd missed one shot with his first gun. He quickly switched hands and his stance as he fired at the remaining targets, quickly taking them down. Jarryd looked at Yang through the corner of his eye and saw her with a shocked face, he could tell he had beaten her. He gave a smile.

"What was my time?" He asked, very confident about his time. Yang sighed and looked at the screen.

"7.41 Seconds…" Yang muttered while looking away, Jarryd smirked and grabbed the Lien off the table, giving Ruby her share back.

"Ready to give up the addiction, Yang?" Jarryd asked with a clear smirk on his face, Yang got out of her depressed state and smirked right back.

"Not even close, waterboy!" Yang nearly shouted back as she walked up to the other two. A third voice entered the room.

"If you three dolts could hurry up, that'd be nice!" The three turned over to see Weiss and Blake standing at the door to the range. "The tournament round starts in half an hour, and Ruby's match is up first!" Ruby, Yang and Jarryd went wide eyed as the rushed out of the room and to the aircrafts and rushed inside one that already had a pilot.

"Stadium?" The pilot yelled to the team over the engine, they all gave a nod and were ready to leave until they heard another yell.

"Wait up!" A male voice yelled, causing everyone to look out the window to see Team JNPR running towards their airship, Jaune was looking like he was about to pass out. Jarryd signaled for the pilot to hold on as he opened the door, Team JNPR quickly poured in and took their seat, except Jaune, who fell to the floor exhausted.

"Easy there Jaune, you don't want exhaustion being the end of you…" Jarryd said with a slight chuckle, Jaune quickly got up and went towards a seat, the pilot yelled back to them again.

"Are we good to go?"

"Yeah, hit it!" Jarryd yelled back with a thumbs up as the aircraft took off. Team RWBY was still laughing at the hustle of Team JNPR, who were all breathing at a fast rate.

"Why were you four in a rush?" Blake asked, still slightly laughing at the now calm JNPR.

"There were other aircrafts ready to go, you know?" Weiss, who was surprising everyone by giggling, added on. Team JNPR tried to think of a good answer before Nora gave up and shrugged her shoulders.

"Because we're friends…?" Nora said, causing the rest of her team to put their head in their hand, everyone on Team RWBY did the same except for their leader.

"That's a pretty good reason!" Ruby yelled, everyone just looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, even Nora was confused. Ruby just looked around at everyone giving her a questioning look. "What?!" everyone facepalmed before Jarryd spoke up.

"Ok, whatever. So Pyrrha, you'll have to fight Yang next, how are you two feeling about it?" Jarryd asked the two females.

"I'm sure Yang is a difficult opponent, I won't be holding back out there just because we are friends." Pyrrha said with her same old friendly smile, Yang smirked in response.

"Good, I don't want you to hold back. Maybe if I win, I'll have my own face on a cereal box!" Yang yelled out confidently, everyone else either laughed or rolled their eyes.

"Let's not get too ahead of things here, Ruby and Jarryd are still in the tournament. If Ruby wins her next round and you win against Pyrrha, you two will have to fight. If you win against your sister, Jarryd might have won his last two matches and you face him." Ren added on in a matter-of-fact tone.

"This tournament is still anybody's game, none of you are guaranteed success. Pyrrha, Yang, and Ruby have the best chances to get to the final, as they only have one more person left on their half of the tournament other than them, but Yang and Pyrrha have to fight. those are still two to one odds." Blake started to explain, drawing everyone's attention. "Jarryd has the hardest road ahead of him, he has to take on the person that beat Weiss…" Blake's comment caused Weiss to give Blake a glare, the cat faunus just rolled her eyes. "Like I was saying, Jarryd will have to go through that guy and he will have to win one more round to get to the final." Everyone looked Jarryd's way, he had a blank expression on his face as he looked everyone in the eye. Jaune gave a small smile.

"The odds may be stacked against him, but if I've learned anything from your time at Beacon Jarryd, you're a guy who can defy the odds." Jaune said, everyone began to smile, even Jarryd. Yang joined in on the praise.

"Yeah, we've seen you do that way too many times…" Yang added on while laughing, Jarryd couldn't help but think of the stranger in the dark cloak, how the man told him he could change the future. He looked over at Yang, remembering the nightmare of her losing her right arm, he then saw everyone, recalling the other nightmare where they all had died in front of him. He looked away from them.

"We can talk about this later, when we are actually in the middle of the tournament, and none of you noticed that we're here…" Jarryd pointed to the window, everyone looked outside and saw that the aircraft had just landed, when they turned around, Jarryd had already opened the door, giving the pilot a thumbs up, he hopped down and began walking to their normal spots. Everyone else just looked at each other and began walking with Jarryd. Once they made it to their seats, they saw Summer and Taiyang already sitting together as usual, Summer's head on Taiyang's shoulder, Yang and Ruby's father eventually noticed the two teams and greeted them.

"Hey kids! For the first time in forever you guys made it here somewhat early, instead of just barely making it." Taiyang joked, the scowled at the comment.

"Keep laughing Dad, we're gonna take this thing all the way!" Ruby yelled while jumping onto a nearby chair. Taiyang and Summer looked at each other with a smirk.

"Well which one of you is going to win? You can't all win…" Summer joined in on the joking with her husband. Ruby tried to think of a comeback to her mother, but she couldn't think of a single thing and stayed silent except for one retort.

"Whatever Mom! You never won the tournament!" Ruby smirked at her clever response.

"Actually….I did." Summer calmly said with a smile. Both Ruby and Yang couldn't believe their ears.

"What!? When did you win the tournament, Mom!" Yang yelled out with her eyes almost out of their sockets, Ruby just stood in shock.

"Wait...have you two dolts **never** looked at the history of the winners of this tournament?" Weiss asked the two sisters.

"Really it's common knowledge, I'm surprised neither of you two have bragged about it…" Blake added on, actually agreeing with Weiss.

"Well then!" Yang yelled as she turned to Jarryd. "Did you know as well?" Yang asked her sister's boyfriend, whom everyone turned towards, waiting for his answer. Jarryd looked at Ruby, who was using her best puppy dog eyes, he then turned towards Weiss, whose eyes were narrowed, looking directly at him.

"I'm gonna have to plead the fifth on this one…" Jarryd answered, quickly sitting down, hoping for the conversation to stop. Luckily, Jarryd's prayer was answered as Professor Oobleck came on over the speaker for the first time that day.

"WELCOME BACK EVERYONE!" Dr. Oobleck's voice rung out over the stadium, hurting everyone within the vicinity ears.

"Gah! Son of a-" Taiyang started his curse, but was cut off by the continuation of Oobleck's screaming.

"THE FOURTH ROUND OF THE VYTAL TOURNAMENT IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!"

"Does this teacher of yours have any self-control?" Summer asked the team in front of her.

"Only when it comes to fighting…" Weiss answered with her typical scowl.

"Mom, Dr. Oobleck treats his coffee like it's the most addictive drug in the world." Yang gave her step-mom a small smile.

"So in other words Mrs. Rose...No." Blake gave the short and simple answer before it was Professor Port's turn to reintroduce himself.

"That's right Bartholomew! We have eight remaining students just itching to get back into the field of battle!" Professor Port said in a much softer voice, but still showing his enthusiasm through his voice.

"At least Professor Port isn't **as** loud…" Ruby said with a single sweatdrop running down her forehead.

"Seriously, why do all of our teachers have to be the quirkiest one's…?" Jarryd wondered.

"Hey Taiyang, don't their teachers remind you of…" Summer started to hint towards her husband, who immediately picked up one what she wanted him to say.

"Yeah, our old teachers when we went to Beacon, especially Mr. Lane." Taiyang laughed at the name of his old teacher.

"Wait, you had crazy teachers back in the day too?" Ruby questioned.

"Oh of course. In fact, they were probably crazier." Ruby's mother answered with a smile, Professor Port continued with what he was saying.

"In this round we will once again go in reverse order. So first up will be Cinder Fall versus Garrett Housley!" Port announced as two pictures of the combatants popped up on the screen, showing the girl who Jarryd and Ruby had run into in the Beacon hallway along with Mercury and Emerald. Cinder's picture appeared next to a young male with curly golden hair and glasses. Team RWBY took their seats and began to talk.

"Hey Weiss?" Jarryd looked towards his white-haired teammate, who looked back at him with her usual stern glare.

"What!? Can't you see I'm trying to watch the match!" Weiss responded, gesturing towards the battle in front of them, where Cinder had the clear advantage against the curly haired kid and was beating on him easily.

"Yeah, looks like you can learn **tons** from a kid being beaten into the dirt…" He replied with sarcasm under his breath. Before Weiss could retort, Jarryd asked his question. "I'm up next, and I have to fight that Harrison guy. You fought him, can you give me any tips as to his attack patterns or something like that?" Weiss's face softened after the question, and smiled when she realized he wanted her advice.

"That brute seems to focus on attacking the entire time, not even bothering to try on the defensive end." The heiress responded, still angry over the fact that such a hulking, dumb, brute could end up winning against her.

"He also hasn't used his semblance in any of his matches, so we have no idea what he can do." Blake added on.

"Well Jarryd, I'm sure if anyone can take that guy down, it's you." Summer said to Jarryd, putting a hand on his shoulder, Jarryd looked back and smiled at the woman considered his own mother at this point in time. Taiyang also smiled at his wife and looked down to his daughter's boyfriend.

"Hell, you beat that Andrew kid, I'll be extremely disappointed if you lose to **that** guy." As her father said this, Ruby smiled and nearly had tears in her eyes, watching her father and mother accept her boyfriend. She then snuggled up next to his shoulder. Jarryd smiled at Ruby's actions, then looked back towards the arena, where the match had just ended. Garrett was down on his stomach while Cinder stood over him, a confident, almost evil look on her face. As Jarryd looked, a flash of white came over his vision for a second, and replaced the scene in front of him with a different view. Cinder, wearing a long red dress, her eyes glowing as she was standing over a fallen down Pyrrha. This vision lasted for a few seconds before another flash of white brought him back to reality. Jarryd felt a sharp pain in his head, he cringed and held his hand to the spot that hurt, everyone around him looked in worry.

"Dude, you okay?" Yang asked as the pain ceased in Jarryd's head.

"Yeah...I'm fine, just a headache." He lied, hiding what he saw from the rest of the group before thinking to himself. 'I'll have to tell that stranger about this, that can't just be a daydream.' after he thought this, he heard his name called over the speaker.

"...Jarryd Starks VS Harrison Allen!"

Jarryd heard his name and immediately tried to get up, but Ruby held him back.

"Are you sure that you're ok?" Ruby said, referring to his false headache he had, Jarryd smiled in return.

"Yeah, it's already gone." Ruby smiled back and nodded, allowing Jarryd to get up, not before he received a pat on his back, he turned around to see a smiling Summer and Taiyang.

"Go get 'em, Jarryd." Summer said with a lot of confidence in her tone, Taiyang also gave the one dating his daughter encouragement.

"You've got this, Kid. Show 'em why you deserve to be here!" Taiyang almost yelled, this sudden outburst surprised Ruby, Yang, and even Summer, he hadn't given anyone outside his family that much emotion. Jarryd stood stunned for a few seconds, before giving Taiyang a smirk.

"Thank you. I won't let you down!" Jarryd replied before giving a salute and walking down to his starting position. He reached the tunnel as he remembered what Harrison looked like, a very tall, very macho man. He took his revolver and dumped all of his ammo out of the cylinder, and quickly replaced it with explosive rubber bullets. "Bigger they are, the harder they fall…" He repeated the famous line to himself before walking out into the light of the arena.

As soon as Jarryd made his physical appearance to the crowd, he felt a slight tremor from all of the applause and cheering that was occurring at the same time. He gave a small wave to the crowd as he reached his position, already across from him was his opponent, Harrison Allen.

Harrison's height seemed shorter from when he was watching his fights from the stands, he stood about a foot and a half taller than Jarryd, and he was the tallest member of Team RWBY, Harrison was also about twice as wide as Jarryd was. The two combatants stared at each other as the crowd silenced itself, noticing the tension between the two. Finally, Harrison spoke up in a burly voice.

"You've had a good run, lightweight, but you're about to get crushed!" Harrison exclaimed as he brought out his hammer. Jarryd saw a good opportunity to retort, which he took.

"Crush me with what? Your overly-large ego?" Jarryd said with a smile, causing a collective "oooh" to come from the crowd. Harrison only gave a grimace as Jarryd readied his sword, preparing a plan of attack in his head. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Oobleck finally began the countdown.

"5...4…" Another awkward pause. "...3,2,1 GO!"

Harrison was confused by the sudden countdown of Oobleck, giving Jarryd a head start as he rushed Harrison and got in a hit, causing Harrison to stagger back, he quickly regained composure and swung his hammer sideways, Jarryd quickly backed up and avoided the oncoming strikes. Harrison then used a surprising burst of speed to rush up and kick Jarryd, sending him flying back a few meters. Jarryd quickly recovered and saw Harrison charging forward, he unholstered his revolvers, aimed straight for Harrison's chest, and fired.

The rubber bullets collided with Harrison's chest, the initial impact did not stop his movement, but after the bullet hit, a small explosion appeared where the bullet hit, sending Harrison back a bit as a second bullet had the same impact. Harrison turned back and looked Jarryd directly in the eyes, he smirked as his eyes flashed a bright red.

Jarryd was initially confused when he saw the flash from Harrison's eyes, but when he blinked, his eyes reopened to find himself no longer in the arena, instead of what looked like the depths of the sea. Jarryd looked around himself to find something that nearly made him scream, an entire herd of Aumakuas, all circling him. The shark-like Grimm then charged him all at once, Jarryd rapidly swung his sword around, trying to scare away, or kill some of the Aumakua, but his cutlass only passed right through them, nor were they trying to bite him. Something was off, but before he could think about what it was, he saw the biggest Aumakua of the group charge forward, peering at him with bright red eyes, Jarryd inhaled as he focused his strength towards the largest Aumakua he'd seen. Then it occurred to him what was wrong.

"Wait, how can I breath underwate-"

Jarryd couldn't finish his thought as his vision snapped back to the arena, and his eyes widened when the large Grimm that was in front of him changed into Harrison, halfway into his swing towards him. Jarryd didn't have time to react as the large hammer connected with the side of his head, causing Jarryd to black out for a few seconds and be thrown across the arena.

Jarryd's body landed, as he took a few seconds to recover, when he made it to his feet, he saw his aura had changed to yellow as he felt the side of his head that the hammer had hit. His head stung when he put his hand next to it, when he pulled it away, he saw his hand covered in a red substance, his own blood. He looked around to the crowd and saw many of them with looks of shock and horror upon their faces, his gaze landed on Ruby and the others, all of them had the same look as everyone else, horrified, except one person, Taiyang.

Taiyang had only been looking at him with a blank expression, like he was studying Jarryd, he then gave a warm smile and a quick nod. Jarryd remembered his promise to them, he wouldn't let them down. He quickly grabbed his sword again and looked directly at Harrison. Harrison's eyes flashed again as Jarryd stared, putting him into the same false reality as before. Jarryd kept looking forward, towards where Harrison was replaced by the huge Aumakua, repeating the same words in his head.

"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real…" Jarryd repeated quietly to himself as he started to walk forward at a leisurely pace. Harrison was shocked at what his opponent was doing, he shouted towards him.

"How...How are you not terrified!?" Harrison yelled as Jarryd turned his walk into a jog.

"It's not real…" Jarryd continued to say, getting louder as his speed increased.

"HOW ARE YOU NOT AFRAID!"

Jarryd didn't listen to any of this as he broke into a full-on sprint as the vision from Harrison's semblance went away, he was back in reality. The gap between Harrison and Jarryd quickly closed, Harrison went for another sideswipe with his hammer, hoping for the same result as before. Jarryd quickly jumped over the hammer and even over Harrison entirely, as he went towards the ground, he unholstered his pistols and quickly put two explosive rounds into Harrison's back, causing him to stumble backwards.

Harrison turned around just as Jarryd ran back up to him and slashed at the bigger student's chest, Harrison felt little to nothing from the blade as he raised his hammer over his head and brought it down. Jarryd quickly jumped out of the way and saw Harrison's hammer had dented the metal and was now stuck, with Harrison trying to pull it out. Jarryd took advantage of this and hopped on the handle of the hammer and balanced himself on it while he attacked Harrison with more rapid strikes, making Harrison's aura go down inch by inch as he got even angrier.

Harrison finally gave up on trying to pull out the hammer and pulled back his fist and punched Jarryd with enough force to send him flying back again, also dropping his sword and having his guns fall out of their holsters. Jarryd got back up just to see Harrison able to pull out his hammer from the ground and start to reach for Crimson Fury, most likely to throw it out of the ring so he could win. Jarryd quickly grabbed on of his water canisters and threw it on the ground behind him. He then shot a hand forward, making the water do the same, blasting himself in the back, and allowing the water to carry him towards Harrison. Jarryd shifted his body to the side so his feet were facing Harrison. Harrison had no time to react as Jarryd's feet met with his face, sending him back farther than any explosive bullet did.

Jarryd quickly grabbed his pistols and holstered them, then grabbed his sword, just in time to see Harrison get up. Jarryd noticed that the result of the water being used allowed puddles to be created everywhere, he was even standing on one, Jarryd smirked as he taunted a furious Harrison, asking his opponent to rush him, which he did.

Jarryd waited as Harrison kept moving closer, until he got within range and just ahead of another puddle. When Harrison had reached the place Jarryd had wanted him to, he shot himself through the puddle he was standing on, and appeared through the puddle behind Harrison. Jarryd had put enough force into the transportation, that he was being shot into the air, Jarryd grabbed Harrison's arms and sent him up with him, before kicking him back down to the ground once they reached maximum height.

Jarryd himself landed away from Harrison, who was still down on the ground, barely able to move, as he gathered up all the water he had used from the fight and hovered it right above Harrison, before sending it all down on top of him, bringing his aura down to the red.

The crowd stood silent for a few moments, waiting for something else to happen, when Professor Port uttered the words that many people were happy to hear.

"Jarryd Starks is victorious!" After Port said these words, there was no more silence, the crowd had erupted in applause and cheers once more. Jarryd didn't focus on the crowd however, as he remembered his head was still bleeding and his vision was going blurry. He used his aura to fix up the cut, then walked towards a bathroom so he could wash off the blood.

About 5 minutes later, Jarryd walked out of the bathroom, the blood completely gone from the cut, which his aura had healed. He knew Ruby and the others would be waiting for him, and he was right. Almost immediately when Jarryd came into view, he was mobbed by Ruby and Yang.

"Are you ok, bro?" Yang asked as Ruby wrapped her arms around Jarryd's torso, not wanting to let go.

"I'm fine, nothing a little bit of aura couldn't fix." He pulled Ruby off of him, and put his hand on her shoulders. "I'm ok Ruby, I'm right here…" He looked at Ruby's eyes and saw that she had tears in her eyes.

"I know…" Ruby said as Jarryd wiped away the tears from her eyes. "At least you won."

"Exactly, now calm down, after Yang, you're up!" Jarryd told his girlfiend, who's tears quickly disappeared.

"You're right, thank you!" She gave Jarryd a quickly kiss before they both headed back to their seats, Yang walked down to the tunnel to be ready for her fight against Pyrrha.

"You sure took one hell of a hit, Kid." Taiyang said as Jarryd and Ruby reached their seats.

"Yeah, I'll tell you right now that it didn't feel good at all." Jarryd replied while slightly laughing.

"I'd bet! You took that hammer to the side of the head at full force, I would expect that to "not feel good" you dope!" Weiss yelled with her arms crossed, Blake just nodded as she continued to read her book until the match started.

"All that matters is that he won…" Said Ruby, once again curling up in Jarryd's lap.

"I have to ask, what exactly did he do that made you start swinging all over the place?" Summer asked what everyone had thought during that moment.

"It must have been semblance, I looked in his eyes and all of a sudden I saw the thing I fear the most...I just don't know why he didn't use it until now." Jarry was never able to get the answer to his question as Yang and Pyrrha's names were announced as they both took the field. Pyrrha and walked up to each other and high-fived as a sign of respect and took their positions. Jarryd felt a buzz in his pocket coming from his scroll, he pulled it out and saw a message from an unknown person.

 _We have something to talk about, now._ The message read, Jarryd looked at the message and wondered who sent it, he quickly replied.

 _Who is this?_ Jarryd waited for a few seconds before the answer appeared on his screen.

 _Maybe this will help you remember._ Below the message, was a picture of a metal arm, and Jarryd immediately knew who it was, the stranger.

 _Where should we talk?_

 _Walk around the stadium until you find a maintenance room, we'll talk there._ Jarryd looked towards Ruby and quickly made up a lie.

"Hey, Andrew want's to talk to me for a little bit, I'll be as back as soon as I can." Jarryd told his girlfriend, who looked confused.

"This is the second time you've had to leave during Yang's match…" Ruby responded, sounding suspicious.

"This time, I'll be back before it's over. It was Ozpin last time, you know how he can be."

"That's true, just make sure you come back before the match is over."

"You got it." Jarryd gave Ruby a quick kiss on her forehead before walking down to the stadium's rotunda. He walked around for a little bit until he saw a door with the word 'maintenance' written on it, he went up to the door, looked around for anyone in the area and knocked after seeing the area clear. The door then opened as Jarryd stepped into the room and saw the same man who had been watching him ever since he arrived at Beacon standing in the middle of the room.

"Glad you could make it."

"What is it we needed to talk about?" Jarryd asked, the man waited a few seconds, to Jarryd it seemed like he didn't exactly know how to word what he was thinking.

"I know you had a another vision…" The stranger admitted, still with the stoic look on his face, even though the upper half of his head wasn't visible. Jarryd was shocked, he only had this vision about half an hour ago.

"Then you know what I saw right...Cinder-"

"Standing over Ms. Nikos with completely different clothing on and glowing eyes, yes I know all about it, it's a part of the future." The reply from the dark-coated man gave Jarryd surprising hope.

"Then you know how to prevent that?" Jarryd spoke with hope, knowing that Pyrrha could be saved from whatever fate this vision had in store for her.

"No, I do not."

Silence.

Jarryd was stunned, how did this man who was able to tell the events of the future, not know how to prevent this.

"But...you know how to prevent what happens to Yang, why not now!?" Jarryd said, hoping to get an answer as to why there was no way of prevention.

"Because you will be in the area at the time of Yang's incident, you won't be able to be there when Pyrrha is in danger, you aren't physically fast enough, even with the transportation technique I taught you…" The stranger told Jarryd, who was looking down at the floor, fists clenched in anger over the inability to do anything.

"But...But, there has to be a way!" Jarryd was interrupted when the stranger put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen Jarryd, I can't tell you how to prevent what happens to Pyrrha because I don't know, but I can tell you that tomorrow is the day that everything will change." These words cause Jarryd to look up and remember what was happening the next day.

"The Tournament Championship?" The stranger nodded, proving his suspicions correct.

"Wait, I have an idea on how to prevent Pyrrha's fate…" The stranger said as Jarryd's eyes lit up with hope again.

"How!?"

"I'll tell you later. Balcony, tonight when everyone else falls asleep, be there. Now go, Yang's match should be just about finished by now." The stranger said, Jarryd smiled as he quickly left the room and ran back to his spot. Yang and Pyrrha looked to be exhausted as they were a short distance away from each other. Jarryd quickly took his seat next to Ruby.

"And I made it in time!" Jarryd yelled out as he quickly wrapped his arm around Ruby, who just smiled and snuggled into his chest.

Back on the field, Yang rushed towards Pyrrha, ready to send a flurry a punches from Ember Celica towards the red headed girl. Pyrrha quickly rolled out of the way and thought of a way to end the fight. Pyrrha focused her semblance on Yang's gauntlets, allowing her to control their movement, carrying Yang with them. Pyrrha shot her arm forward, flinging Yang out of the field of play, ending the fight.

"Pyrrha Nikos is the winner!" The crowd roared as Yang quickly got up, ran over to Pyrrha and the two have a hug of friendship before going back towards the tunnel.

"Aww...Darn it." Ruby said, slightly disappointed with the result over the fact that her sister didn't win.

"There's no real shame in Yang losing to this Pyrrha girl, after all I heard she has been the champion of multiple tournaments…" Ruby's father quickly told her, Summer then added her own piece of mind.

"And either way, Yang tried her best, that's all we can ask for, I'm proud of her either way." said Summe as Yang appeared from the stairway, still with minor bruises and cuts on her body.

"Phew, that was a workout!" Yang exclaimed with her usual happy tone, which was confusing due to what had just occurred.

"You aren't upset that you lost, Yang?" Weiss asked, thinking that if anyone would be the most upset over defeat, it would be Yang due to her being extremely confident in herself.

"No, not at all. At least if I lost, it was to someone I'm friends with, and who I'll root for to go even farther." Yang said, a big grin upon her face.

"Yang...That's surprisingly mature." Blake said, looking up from her book. Yang's grin quickly turned to a frown.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Yang yelled out, much to everyone's amusement, even Blake was laughing at her reaction. Then the next fight was announced.

"For our last match before the semifinals, we have Ruby Rose VS Irene Chamelian!" Port announced, everyone looked towards Ruby, who looked extremely nervous.

"Well, I guess that's me...wish me luck." Ruby sheepishly said, getting up from her spot. Yang quickly pulled her sister into a hug.

"I know you can do this sis...go and show 'em what you're made of!" Yang said while holding Ruby tight, Ruby had begun to turn purple.

"Thanks...Yang...Can't...Breath…"

"Oh, sorry, my bad!" Yang said with embarrassment, putting a hand behind her head. Summer had gotten out of her seat and gave her daughter a big hug, but made sure not to choke her.

"My little Ruby, all you have to do is believe in yourself and you can do anything…" She then pointed out everyone to Ruby. "Your father and I believe in you, Yang believes in you, Jarryd believes in you, Weiss and Blake believe in you, but none of that helps if you don't believe in yourself!" Ruby was in awe of the effect her mother's words had on her, and the young girl began to tear up.

"Mom...thank you so much." Ruby said with a smile now on her face.

"You're welcome, honey. Now head down there before you get disqualified for not showing up." At her mother's word, Ruby sped down towards the arena, using her semblance to arrive right at her point to start the match, Irene was already sitting across from her, already studying Ruby as soon as she arrived. Ruby also did what Jarryd had taught her and looked at the equipment Irene had, her bo staff and the shorts and top she wore. Ruby thought that Irene would try to get close enough to use her staff, which appeared to have nothing else inside of it, and use hit and run tactics, Ruby began to plan her attack around this.

"The fight shall begin in 3...2...1…" Irene and Ruby both had their weapons at the ready, Crescent Rose was in it's sniper rifle mode.

"Go!"

As soon as Port gave the ok to start the fight, Irene immediately began rushing towards Ruby, who was firing off shots as fast as she could. Irene was able to dodge every bullet that came her way, Ruby quickly switched back to scythe mode once Irene was close enough. Ruby tried to hit with an overhead swing, but Irene flipped out of the way and hit Ruby in the back with the end of her staff, causing Ruby to stumble a little bit. Once Ruby had recovered, she grabbed her scythe and swung it towards Irene, who jumped over the large weapon and brought her staff down into Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby quickly sped away with her semblance, and set up another sniping position, firing more shots, which Irene avoided yet again and started charging. When Irene was about halfway towards Ruby, the scythe wielder switched Crescent Rose into it's scythe form and used her semblance you run towards her opponent. Irene had no time to react as the scythe had hooked onto Irene, Ruby had begun spinning around as her scythe held Irene, Ruby then stopped spinning which made the scythe let go of Irene and launch her into the air. Ruby switched Crescent Rose back to a sniper, aimed at Irene's flailing form in the air, and shot an explosive round at her, hitting with perfect accuracy.

When Irene crashed down to the ground, she was able to get up surprisingly fast, and an idea formed in her head, she smirked and began to speak.

"Nice hit, Riding Hood…" Irene said while getting into a running stance. "Now try hitting what you can't see…" Ruby was initially confused by her opponent's statement, until after a second Irene had completely disappeared in front of her eyes. Ruby looked all around her for where Irene might have gone, until she felt something connect with her stomach, Irene's staff, except Ruby still couldn't see Irene, but she didn't have time to find out as Irene's staff had hit Ruby's chin, sending her flying backwards.

 **In the stands**

"What's going on with Ruby? Can't she see that she is right in front of her?" Weiss nearly yelled, referring to the sight everyone else was seeing, Ruby looking around helplessly as Irene was hitting her with her staff.

"I don't know, maybe we can see her, but Ruby can't…" Blake suggested, but Weiss wasn't buying the idea.

"And _ **how**_ exactly would that be the case?" Weiss retorted with her arms crossed.

"It has to be some sort of of semblance, there's no other explanation I can think of…" Jarryd answered to the best of his ability.

"A semblance that would only make her invisible to one person..that can't be possible, can it?" Weiss wondered in disbelief.

"A semblance can make anything possible...the problem for Ruby is that I can't think of a way that she can combat it, she'd have to be able to locate Irene for her semblance to become useless, but I'm not sure Ruby has anything that can help her with that…" Jarryd admitted with worry.

 **In the arena**

Ruby had spent a good 5 minutes looking around for where Irene had kept attacking from, only to keep getting beat up on, eventually getting pinned near the edge of the arena. Ruby had been looking around again in front of her, looking for where her opponent could come from. Ruby then saw a staff plant into the ground right next to her.

"Peek-a-boo…" Irene quietly whispered in Ruby's ear. Ruby then turned to look at Irene, until Irene spun around her staff and kicked Ruby with enough force to send her flying out of the arena.

Everything had gone silent for a few seconds, people couldn't comprehend exactly what happened. After the initial shock had passed, Oobleck had given the announcement.

"Irene Chamelian is the winner!" Oobleck announced a lot slower than his usual pace, he almost talked normally. Irene stood in the center of the arena and began waving to the crowd, many of them were applauding, others did nothing. Ruby was able to get up and put her hood over her head, she then hung her head low, grabbed her weapon and walked off the field, this was the only thing Team RWBY paid attention to.

"I'll go talk to her…" Jarryd said as he jogged down the stairs and over by the tunnel, he looked around the area for Ruby, but couldn't see her, Jarryd kept walking, until he saw a shadowy corner that had a figure sitting in the shadow, wearing a black hood and combat skirt. Jarryd sighed as he walked up to the figure who he knew was Ruby, who had her head down, audible sobs could be heard. "Ruby…" Jarryd said, trying to get her attention. Ruby spoke, but didn't look up at him.

"Go away…" Ruby softly spoke, sobs in between breaths.

"Ruby, you know I can't do that…" Jarryd sat down next to Ruby and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, talk to me."

"I'm sorry…" Jarryd was confused by Ruby's statement.

"What're you sorry for?" He asked, Ruby finally looked up towards her pirate boyfriend, he could see her eyes red from crying and the tears running down her cheeks.

"I didn't win, I let everyone down. Mom, Dad, Yang, You, I let you all down!" Ruby yelled out, Jarryd turned his body to look her dead in the eyes.

"Ruby, do you even realize how much you've accomplished in these last few days?" Jarryd asked, Ruby looked up at him with genuine confusion. Jarryd smiled as he explained what he meant. "You have gotten past students who have been in this tournament before, you reached a point in the tournament some people can only dream about, and would kill to get to. Not to mention you are in your first year and that you are only 15! And I'm not even mentioning all of the other impressive things you've done this past year." Jarryd's words made Ruby look into his own ice blue eyes in wonder.

"Jarryd, I-" Ruby tried to say before Jarryd interrupted her again.

"I'm not finished yet. The scary thing is, Ruby...You can only get better from here! I bet next year you will wipe the floor with everyone who enters the tournament, including me. And furthermore, you did not let anyone down, your mom and dad couldn't be prouder of the woman and huntress you're becoming. Yang couldn't be prouder of how much you've grown in terms of maturity. I'm especially proud of you for many things. So don't beat yourself up over one loss." Jarryd finished his statement as he wiped a tear from Ruby's cheek. Ruby was speechless, the boy she had met only this year, yet had grown to love kept surprising her, she couldn't think of another appropriate reaction than to give him a kiss, which she did.

When the kiss broke, Ruby and Jarryd stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Ruby spoke up again.

"Thank you so much...can you promise me something?" Ruby asked, Jarryd smiled at her request.

"Sure, what's the promise I need to keep?"

"Promise me that you'll win the tournament." Ruby said, confidence back in her voice. Jarryd was surprised for a moment before answering.

"Well...That's gonna be tough…" Jarryd started to say, before Ruby started to pout and give the puppy dog eyes to her boyfriend. He gave in to her cuteness. "Alright, I promise...cure your cuteness…" Jarryd muttered the last part as Ruby hugged him and held him close.

"Thank you!" Ruby exclaimed, failing to notice that Jarryd wasn't able to breath.

"Ruby...Air!" Jarryd pleaded as Ruby let him go, a pink tint on her cheeks.

"Sorry! I guess that's one thing I inherited from Mom…" Ruby said, no longer crying. Jarryd laughed as he held out his hand.

"Come on, your parents will be wondering what we're up to if we don't get back soon." Jarryd said as Ruby took a hold of his hand and the two walked back to their seats. All eyes were on Ruby when she and Jarryd walked back. Yang quickly got out of her seat and hugged Ruby, without choking her this time.

"Are you ok, sis?!" Yang asked with genuine concern.

"Yang, I'm fine, Jarryd made sure of that." Ruby answered, gesturing to the pirate who sat down in his seat and felt his hair being rustled from behind, most likely a sign of appreciation from one of Ruby's parents. The tournament had been taking a 10 minute intermission before the semifinals would start. The time had passed quickly as Doctor Oobleck announced the next fight.

"For the first round of the semifinals, we have Jarryd Starks VS Cinder Fall, both students please assume your positions ASAP!" Oobleck yelled as fast as possible, he had most likely drank another cup of coffee during the break.

"That's my cue." Jarryd got up, brushed himself off and felt himself getting hugged from behind by Ruby. He turned back to face her and held Ruby's hand.

"Remember our promise, and go kick some butt!" Ruby said, Jarryd smiled again, taking in the encouragement from the one he loves. Jarryd nodded and gave Ruby a hug before jogging down to the tunnel again. Jarryd checked his weapons and ammo before walking out, he emptied out his explosive bullets and replaced them with regular rubber bullets. He and Cinder both reached their starting position at the same time. Jarryd looked at her attire, Cinder wore a simple pair of pants, combat boots, a brown vest and a lone pauldron on her left shoulder, her waist and chest were also wrapped with bandages. This look looked nothing like what his vision had shown, with Cinder in the red dress. Jarryd remembered that Cinder hadn't used any weapons in this tournament, only kicks and punches.

"Go!" Jarryd hadn't been paying attention to the countdown until he heard the signal to start. Cinder began to rush towards him, much like Irene had done to Ruby. Instead of shooting at Cinder, Jarryd unsheathed Crimson Fury and rushed towards the black-haired woman.

Jarryd took the first swing as he tried to hit Cinder with a side swipe from the right, Cinder jumped over the attack, but Jarryd anticipated this move. Jarryd took out one of his revolvers and aimed at Cinder while she was in the air and fired two shots. The rubber bullets both hit Cinder in the back, causing her to audibly gasp with pain, she landed on both feet and turned around, showing the scowl on her face as she charged yet again.

Cinder was able to avoid more oncoming bullets as she rushed the pirate, Jarryd tried to get her to jump again by using the same swing, But Cinder spun around it, and kick Jarryd's arm, knocking his gun out his grip and sending it towards the middle of the arena. Jarryd reached for his other revolver until Cinder kicked his knee cap and then his other arm, sending the other pistol to the same place as the first. Jarryd took to time to look at where his guns had gone as he readied his sword for close combat.

Cinder went in for a kick to the stomach, which Jarryd blocked with the side of his sword's blade. Jarryd was able to punch Cinder in the chest, Cinder stumbled a few steps before trying to hit Jarryd with a roundhouse kick. Jarryd ducked under Cinder's leg and quickly slashed at her side, connecting and creating a small cut along her side. Cinder didn't take lightly to this, as she kneed Jarryd in the chin and kicked his sword out of hand, which landed in the same spot as his pistols. Jarryd stood in shock as Cinder began to laugh.

"Now what're you gonna do without any weapons?" She taunted, Jarryd looked around for something to use, then an idea came to him, he grabbed two of his water canisters and poured them on the ground.

"You should know from my last fight, I always find a way…" Jarryd said as he put his hands into the two newly created puddles. The water seemed to crawl up his arms as the water surrounded his arm from his wrist down. Cinder didn't think anything of this, she ran towards Jarryd, who took a defensive position. Cinder then spun away from Jarryd as she rushed towards his weapons, looking to throw them out of the ring. Jarryd watched her run as he threw his arm forward, sending out a stream of water from his hand, he then swung his hand to the side, hitting Cinder in a whip like fashion and sending her flying away from his weapons. "Huh, neat…" Jarryd said, smirking.

Cinder got up, confused over what had just happened, Jarryd stood in awe over what he just did, he didn't waste time attacking again, he retracted his water whip (Which is what he named it in his mind), and held out both of his arms and aimed them towards Cinder. Out of the water around Jarryd's hand flew high-pressure water bullets, which to Cinder felt like a regular bullet on impact. These water bullets hit Cinder with incredible accuracy and power, causing her to step backwards a little every time one hit her.

Jarryd began to rush Cinder, while still firing at her using one hand, the other was wound up. Once the gap closed between the two, Jarryd slammed his wound up fist into Cinder's exposed stomach, but when he did, he sent out another stream out high pressure water from the hand that punched Cinder, sending her flying out of the ring. Jarryd sent the water from his hand back into their respective canisters, and walked over to grab his fallen weapons as Port made the announcement.

"Jarryd Starks is moving on to our championship round with a spectacular showing!" When Port said this, the crowd once again roared for the teen, who paid the applause no mind as he grabbed his weapons and put them in their correct place. He turned back to give Cinder a look of "I told you so" as he walked away. As Jarryd was walking back through the tunnel, he saw Irene standing by, looking at him with her trademark smirk.

"Nice moves out there…" Irene said with smugness in her voice.

"What are you doing down here, Irene?" Jarryd asked, even though when he asked he remembered the answer.

"Because I'm up next, duh. I'm getting ready to join you in the championship." She answered as she pulled out her wooden staff.

"I wouldn't be sure of that yet, you'll have to go through Pyrrha first, that's no easy task." Jarryd responded, his own smirk on his face now.

"Just watch me, pretty boy…" Irene said as she walked out onto the field. Jarryd scoffed at her cocky attitude and walked back up the stairs. He approached his team and smiled, saying what he was really thinking.

"Ok, I have no idea how I did that out there, but it was cool!" Jarryd exclaimed as Ruby hugged him.

"I don't know, but you did amazing!" Ruby yelled as she held him tight, Jarryd returned the hug as his other teammates surrounded him.

"I have to admit, that was impressive for a dolt like you." Weiss said with a small smile on her face.

"Using the water as an infinite source of power and ammunition was clever, did you just randomly think of that?" Blake asked in wonder.

"I just realized that since I can freely control water, why couldn't I create different weapons with it?" Jarryd answered with a shrug.

"Well whatever it was, you now have a championship to win, bro." Yang said, slapping Jarryd on the back as he went to sit down, the match between Pyrrha and Irene had already started.

Irene had been trying to get to get close to Pyrrha, having to avoid rifle shots and a flying shield along the way. Irene had used her staff to pole vault herself high into the air, coming back down ready to strike Pyrrha. Pyrrha switched her weapon to its sword form and blocked the staff. Irene then flipped over Pyrrha and hit her in the back, and kept hitting Pyrrha from all sides. Pyrrha had enough and threw her shield to where Irene was, hitting her and sending her meters backwards.

Irene smirked when she landed, activating her semblance again, and disappearing from Pyrrha's vision. Pyrrha looked all around but found no trace of where Irene was, until she felt the staff hit the front of her leg. Pyrrha quickly swung her sword in front of her, which did connect with the invisible Irene, revealing her to Pyrrha, who made the most of the opportunity and kept slashing at Irene, landing every strike. Irene quickly jumped away, as her aura entered the yellow, she formed a plan in her head as she turned invisible again.

Pyrrha looked around again, expecting to feel the staff hit her at any moment from in front of her, she then felt something tap her stomach and swung in front of her, except nothing happened. Irene then revealed herself, she was standing next to Pyrrha as the end of her staff was touching Pyrrha's stomach.

"Boom."

As soon as Irene said this, the end of her staff created an explosion sending Pyrrha flying out of the ring.

Everyone was shocked, THE Pyrrha Nikos had just been eliminated, also nobody knew that Irene's staff could do what it just did. It took a few seconds before even Professor Port or Oobleck could comprehend what had just happened.

"And...Irene Chamelian is the winner!" Port slowly announced, and the audience slowly began to clap. Nobody had been expecting Irene to win, especially not in the way that she did. Jarryd had been especially shocked, now knowing he had to face the girl in the championship round, which Dr. Oobleck announced next.

"The championship is set, tomorrow night we will have Irene Chamelian VS Jarryd Starks! See you tomorrow now please leave in a CALM FASHION!" Oobleck yelled the last part at the top of his lungs. Taiyang and Summer turned to the team of students below.

"Well, we'll be heading home…"

"But we'll be back tomorrow, you should prepare for tomorrow night Jarryd, this Irene seems tough." Summer said, Jarryd nodded as they gave Ruby and Yang one last hug before leaving. Team RWBY had left the stadium and were looking for an open airship. Jarryd then felt a tap on his back, he turned around to see Andrew and Jackson standing there, Irene wasn't with them tho.

"Nice job out there, dude." Jackson said, holding out his hand, which Jarryd shook.

"Hey guys! How're you holding up Jackson?" Jarryd asked, wondering about Jackson's condition.

"I'm fine, I should be ok for a while."

"Is this your team, Jarryd?" Andrew asked, the girls turned towards the two boys Jarryd had been talking to.

"Yeah, except it's really Ruby's team. But yeah, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Blake, this is Andrew and Jackson Blink." Jarryd introduced the two groups to each other, the members of Team RWBY gave the two a wave.

"Glad to you meet you all." Andrew said with his gentleman voice, Jackson then butted ahead of his brother.

"What's up?" Jackson said before turning to Yang and looked at her hair. "And I must say, I just had to use this…' **golden** ' opportunity to talk to you…" He referred to Yang's hair, causing everyone to sigh and facepalm, except Yang who started laughing histerically.

"I like you already…" Yang said, before she countered Jackson. "But make sure you keep looking, otherwise I'll be gone in the ' **blink** ' of an eye!" This new pun cause both Jackson and Yang to laugh.

"Ok before this continues for another hour, where's Irene?...I would have thought she'd be with her team after she won." Jarryd asked, Ruby had frowned at the name of the person know beat her.

"We actually don't know, she keeps disappearing for a little bit after every round, we usually have to go find her, we're gonna do that after you leave." Andrew said, Weiss then walked in the front of the group.

"Which we should actually do right now, **you** , mister have to get your rest for tomorrow. You can't fight when you're tired." Weiss tried to lecture Jarryd.

"Well, I mean he can, but…" Ruby started to say, everyone turned towards her, completely missing the point of what Weiss said. "I'll just shut up now…"

"Yeah, we should be heading back to our dorms. Have fun looking for Irene." Jarryd said, shaking Andrew and Jackson's hand before they walked off, Team RWBY then found an airship to bring them home.

 **Later that night**

Jarryd had managed to stay awake until everyone else had fallen asleep, he looked at the time, 11:24, he quickly got up and snuck out of the dorm without anyone waking up. He made his way out to the balcony and waited for the stranger to show up. About 5 minutes later, he did.

"Sorry I arrived late, this item was harder to get than I thought." The stranger said, talking about the item that could help prevent Pyrrha from being killed.

"Well...what is it?" Jarryd asked in anticipation. The stranger than reached into a bag and pulled out a piece of clothing, a shirt of some kind. "A shirt...what's that gonna do?"

"I'm sure you know the technique of people implementing dust into their armor and clothing, right?" Jarryd nodded his head at the question. "Well I happened to have one of the local tailors make this shirt, which will block much of the damage of many attacks that Cinder uses…" As the stranger told Jarryd the shirt's effects, he was confused by what he meant by Cinder's attacks.

"But when I fought Cinder, she only used kicks and punches, that's all she did in the tournament."

"She was holding back her true power...if she really wanted to, she might have been able to beat you by the tournament's rules…" The stranger resolved Jarryd's confusion.

"Ok, so what do I do with this shirt?"

"You need to get Pyrrha to put the shirt on." The answer given by the stranger made sense to Jarryd, since Pyrrha would be fighting Cinder, having something to defend against her attacks would help immensely. The stranger handed Jarryd the shirt.

"Thank you...Now I need to get some rest." Jarryd said as he began to walk away

"Why are you in such a rush?" The stranger asked, Jarryd turned around again and gave the man a smirk.

"I've got a promise to keep."

 **HOLY CRAP I'M EXTREMELY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT**

 **When I had released the last chapter, I didn't realize how busy I'd get with school work, I tried to work on this and school at the same time and just realized it wouldn't work. So I decided I would resume working on this when school got out….On June 8th...and I last updated in February…**

 **But also believe it or not, this is the 2ND TO LAST CHAPTER OF VOLUME 1 OF THIS FIC!**

 **Yes the next chapter will be the end of Volume 1 and will take place at the end of Volume 3 in actual RWBY lore (As you probably guessed)**

 **But anyways, I'll try to get the last chapter out before Summer Vacation ends.**

 **See ya next time!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Holy crap, we're so close to the end.**

 **I do plan on making an epilogue, just because this is so long.**

 **Somebody asked me over PM about what I think Jarryd's theme song would be. Ruby has "Red Like Roses", Yang has "I Burn", what would Jarryd's be? Well since there aren't many songs that fit with Jarryd's character and are like the other member's of RWBY's, I would say "The Downeaster Alexa" By Billy Joel would most likely be his theme. The song itself doesn't get you in the mood for battle, but I think the style of the song and the lyrics just fit his character. I definitely recommend giving it a listen.**

 **Just a little heads up before you jump into things, this chapter will contain at least 1 or 2 character deaths….Idk why I felt the need to point that out but I did. (I ain't telling who right now, but to the people that PM'd me, they know one person that won't die ;) )**

 **But before we get right into the last full chapter of Volume 1...of course the DAMN disclaimer.**

 **I do NOT own RWBY or it's characters in anyway shape or form, I only own the characters that I myself have created, 5waydragon owns his two characters, and the person who created Irene (We'll just call her Irene since she has no fanfiction account yet…) obviously owns Irene. All characters, names, and settings created by RoosterTeeth belong to them.**

 **There! Now they can't sue me!**

 **And now for the last real chapter.**

 **LET'S GET ON WITH- Damn me saying that every time is stupid, just read!**

 **Team RWBY's dorm**

Jarryd opened his eyes reluctantly, looking at the bare ceiling of the room his team slept in. He felt no excitement in getting up, he was more anxious than anything for two reasons.

The first reason: The Vytal Tournament championship round was today, and he had to fight.

Reason number two?

Today, all hell would break loose, and he didn't know when.

All of last night while Jarryd was waiting for his team to fall asleep, he remembered the words the hooded stranger, who kept informing him of future events like he knew they would happen said to him yesterday .

 _"Tomorrow is the day that everything will change"_ These words kept ringing in Jarryd's head like those were the only words he had ever heard. Today, if he didn't act quick enough, everyone he knows and loves could die. And now he had been given an article of clothing that could save at least one friend, maybe others, he just needed to get Pyrrha to wear it.

Jarryd was eventually able to get himself to climb out of bed. He saw that all of the girls were still asleep, something he had grown accustomed to seeing in the morning, he took this opportunity to relax with a shower. He grabbed his clothes entered the bathroom and locked the door, a rule that the entire team had created since Jarryd was the only male on the team.

After his shower, Jarryd changed into his regular clothing, and exited the room to see everyone still sleeping. He then remembered that Pyrrha would often go to the weight rooms in the morning to work out alone, he knew this because this same scenario happened often. Jarryd wrote a note telling his team on his whereabouts once they woke up as he grabbed the shirt and headed down to the weight room.

After a few minutes of walking Jarryd reached his destination as he entered the weight room and saw Pyrrha doing warm up stretches. He took a deep breath as he walked over to the red-haired warrior.

"Hey, Pyrrha!" Jarryd called out, making Pyrrha look up from her stretches and smile.

"Did you wake up early again, Jarryd?" Pyrrha asked, Jarryd simply nodded as he stood in front of her.

"Yeah, also I needed to...work out for the match tonight." Jarryd said, Pyrrha could tell that he was nervous by the quivering sound of his voice.

"You want to talk to me about something, don't you?" Pyrrha asked with the smile still on her face and a cocked eyebrow.

"Is it really that obvious?" Jarryd said with a small nervous smile.

"You didn't do a good job of hiding it." Pyrrha's answer caused them both to slightly laugh before moving on. "Well, what is it?"

Jarryd was conflicted now, could he tell Pyrrha the whole truth, or just quickly state what he needed her to do. He decided that it would be better for Pyrrha to have a little bit of background as to why she needed to put the shirt on.

"Ok Pyrrha, recently, I've been getting these...visions of events, and one of those visions had you near death, and you were going to die…" Jarryd glanced over to Pyrrha and saw that she was genuinely confused and surprised at the same time.

"But those are just visions, right?"

"That's what I thought a first, but I've been told that what I saw **will** happen, and it's going to happen today…" Jarryd told her with the most serious of looks in his eyes as he looked into hers.

"Jarryd, Ozpin told me that you were one of these 'orbital guardians' and you're supposed to protect me, but I think you're being paranoid…" Pyrrha put a hand on Jarryd's shoulders as he continued to talk.

"I might be paranoid, but I can't take any chances on this…" Once Pyrrha realized that Jarryd wouldn't let this go, she sighed and gave in.

"Fine, so what do we have to do to prevent this?" Pyrrha asked, Jarryd then grabbed the shirt and held it out in front of the girl.

"Wear this under your armor." Pyrrha looked at the article of clothing and was extremely confused.

"A shirt?"

"This shirt is fused with dust so that any damage you take will be reduced, so you won't feel as much pain, and your body won't be hurt as much." Jarryd explained as Pyrrha looked at the shirt. After a few moments of consideration, Pyrrha nodded.

"Ok, I'll wear this." Pyrrha said as she gave Jarryd a small smile, which he returned.

"Good…" Jarryd got up and began to walk over to one of the workout machines. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a match to train for." He said with a smile as he began to use the machine, Pyrrha laughed as she went to do her own workout.

After a good thirty minute workout session, Jarryd received a message from Ruby.

" _We're in the cafeteria for breakfast, a lot of people are wondering where you are…"_ Ruby had typed, Jarryd raised an eyebrow as he formed his response.

 _"Weird, I'll be there in a minute 3"_ He replied as he left the room, Pyrrha had left a few minutes before. Jarryd reached the door to the cafeteria within a minute and opened the door. The reaction he got once he entered the room was shocking.

Every student in the room had turned to look at him, and once they had realized it was him, the room erupted in cheers and applause. Jarryd looked extremely confused as to why he was being cheered on, he then remembered the fact that he made it to the championship round of the tournament. Jarryd meekly waved at everyone as he walked over to get his breakfast, which consisted of toast, eggs, and yogurt. The girls of Team RWBY and JNPR saw the pirate's confusion and had been chuckling the whole time.

"This better not be something I'll regularly wake up to…" Jarryd said as he sat down next to his chuckling teammates. "You may think this is funny, but it isn't to me."

"Oh come on, you have to be enjoying this attention a little bit, right?" Nora asked with her usual smile.

"I came to this school hoping **not** to draw attention to myself, it only paints a larger target on my back." Jarryd spoke from experience, knowing how The Red Band's plundering would always bring the crew even more notoriety from the authorities.

"Dude, you started drawing attention to yourself when you whooped Cardin's ass on your first day." Yang said, making everyone remember the day when the pirate had first arrived at the school, Ruby and Jarryd especially remembered when the first met at the Beacon firing range and the two bonded over Jarryd's weapons.

"It was amusing to watch though, you have to admit." Pyrrha had added on, Jarryd had looked at her attire and noticed she was wearing the shirt he had given her. Jarryd smiled as he knew Pyrrha had trusted him, or she had just went along with it because he wouldn't have shut up about it if she didn't.

"Oh it felt even better to be the one to beat him, Weiss knows what I'm talking about." Jarryd continued to eat his eggs as he gestured to the heiress.

"He's right, it's surprisingly fun to defeat that brute at his own game."

"Either way, like it or not, you've become popular, Jarryd." Blake said before going back to eating her breakfast.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I have to like it…" Jarryd said putting his head down in disappointment, the group then heard footsteps coming their way

"Hey guys." Everyone had looked up from their meals to see Coco and Velvet standing in front of them. "You giving Mr. Famous over here the special treatment?" Coco joked as she pointed towards Jarryd, who sighed at the nickname.

"Not you guys too…" Jarryd said, clearly wanting to bang his head on the table repeatedly.

"Yep, though he isn't a fan of it, if you couldn't tell already." Ruby answered Coco's question with her traditional smile.

"Obviously." Velvet said with a giggle, finding amusement from the antics of the younger students.

"Anyway, will you guys be at the stadium to watch his fight?" Yang asked the two upperclassmen, Coco sharply inhaled.

"That's actually what we came over here to tell you…"

"Professor Peach asked our team to help him with some of his research, so we'll be staying here, but we'll be done in time to watch it on TV." Velvet had finished Coco's thought.

"We do not mind." Ren had replied for the group in his traditional tone.

"Yeah, as long as you watch, it's ok." Ruby told the upperclassmen. Velvet gave a bow of respect to the group.

"Thank you, loves."

"And good luck to you, buddy." Coco said, giving Jarryd a pat on the back.

"Thanks, Coco. I'll do what I can." Jarryd gave the two girls a smile before they walked off back to their own teammates.

"Speaking of the match, does anybody know a way to counter that Irene girl's semblance?" Jaune had asked out of the blue, everyone's eyes widened, realizing they hadn't thought about it at all. Blake had been the one to speak up next.

"Well...once Pyrrha had located her, she reappeared after Pyrrha was able to hit her, the hard part is finding her…" While Blake said this, Yang had gotten up to return her food tray, before an audible splash was heard. The whole group had turned around to see that Yang had stepped in a puddle of someone's spilled water.

"Damn it!" Yang yelled out, Jarryd noticed how when Yang's foot had risen, an imprint from where her foot had been formed for a second before taking it's normal shape. A plan then started to formulate in his head, a smile coming to his face.

"I think I've got an idea…"

 **An Hour Later - Vale Docks**

Jarryd had felt that he should spend some of his free time before the big match with his crew and his father. When he looked upon the Crimson Raider, he remembered Ruby's words from nights before.

 _"Change them."_ When Ruby had initially said this, Jarryd thought that the idea was impossible at first, the men aboard the crew had joined the gang to get away from the government's strict laws, they wanted to live life as they pleased, they group of pirates would most likely throw up at the thought of working with the government. But if Jarryd had learned anything from his time at Beacon Academy, he's been able to see situations from other people's perspectives. Jarryd had seen that the group he thought of as his family had stolen from the innocent, sunk thousands of Navy ships just for the hell of it, and many other things that his new friends would have looked down upon.

Jarryd sighed over the situation as he walked onto the deck of the boat, looking around at all of the pirates on board, many of them busy with cleaning the ship. Anyone who saw him as he walked to his father's quarters would give him words of encouragement and a pat on the back. He saw a familiar face over by the sword grinder, it was Max, who was finishing up some blades.

"Hey Max!" Jarryd yelled, grabbing the attention of the crewmate. Max looked up and saw the captain's son, a smile growing onto his face.

"Jarryd!" Max exclaimed, dropping whatever he was doing and rushing over to Jarryd. "What are you doing here, don't you have to get ready for your match!?"

"The match isn't until tonight, I had some time to kill so I thought I'd drop by." Jarryd then picked up one of the swords Max had been working on and looked it over, and he was impressed with his work. "Seems that you took my advice to heart."

"Yeah, ever since you told me what to improve on, I've focused on those aspects and I think they've turned out nicely." Max replied.

"Well I can see you've worked your tail off, though there is still one thing to improve on here…" Jarryd then brought the side of the blade close to Max's face so he could see, small lines along the blade. "These cracks may be little, but can be dangerous to use in battle." Max's head hung low for a second, showing that he was disappointed in himself.

"How can I fix that?" Max said, bringing his head back up and listening intently.

"What I would do is just braze over the area that has the cracks, and they should be fixed right away." Jarryd handed the sword back to Max, who looked at the cracks closely. "By the way, how is Audrey doing?" Jarryd's question made Max smile and look over to his left.

"Why doesn't she tell you herself…" When Max said this, a small squeal was heard coming from the direction Max had been looking at. Jarryd looked that direction and saw Audrey's head poking out from behind the mast of the ship, her cheeks had turned a light shade of red. Jarryd smiled when he saw her.

"Hey Audrey, how've you been?" Jarryd asked the girl whose face turned a darker shade of red.

"Um...I-I've been..F-fine…Thank you for a-asking." Audrey managed to say in between stutters, Max had been snickering at his sister as Jarryd was just confused.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yeah! I'm d-doing just fine!" Audrey said with less stuttering. Jarryd shrugged off Audrey's reaction towards him.

"Well, it was nice catching up with you guys, I've gotta talk with my dad." Jarryd had said before walking off, the two young pirates looked at the captain's son wander away. Audrey then sighed.

"There he goes again…" Audrey said with a downcast expression. A small smile grew on Max's face, ready to tease his sister.

"You've really got it bad, don't you sis?"

"Yeah…" Audrey felt her brother hug her from behind.

"You know he has a girlfriend, right?" Max had asked the question that they both knew the answers to, even then, Audrey still managed to form a crush for Jarryd.

"I know…" Audrey then got out of her depressed state and looked at her brother with a smile. "But a girl can dream, can't she?"

 **Crimson Raider's Captain's Quarters**

Jarryd quietly opened the door to his father's quarters and looked around the room. He saw his father sitting at his desk, he appeared to be writing something down. Jarryd entered the room and shut the door, the noise of the closing door caused his father to look up and see his adoptive son standing in front of him. John Stark's smile lit up like a holiday tree.

"My boy!" John had run over and gave his son a crushing bear hug before releasing him. "What brings you aboard again? Especially before the big match."

"I had some time to kill, so I thought I'd spend some of it here." Jarryd sat down in one of his dad's chairs while John went to grab something from his cabinet, Jarryd was confused when his father pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses. John walked back to his desk and began to pour the beverages into the small glasses. The pirate captain pushed one of the filled glasses towards Jarryd's direction, Jarryd just looked confused and shot a look towards his dad.

"What are you waiting for? Drink!" John exclaimed with a beaming smile as he held his own glass.

"Dad, I turn 18 in the summer, I can't drink yet!" Jarryd yelled at his father.

"Jarryd, nobody is even in the room except you and me, you aren't going to get arrested for taking a shot." John retorted while pushing the glass further in his son's direction. Jarryd looked at the glass for a few more seconds before giving a sigh.

"Ah what the hell…" Jarryd picked up the small glass and looked towards his father, who was holding his hand out, ready for the traditional toast The Red Band would always do before drinking.

"To the black flag, and the lawless seas!" Both father and son yelled at the same time as they clanked their glasses together, the pirates then quickly downed their shots of alcohol. Jarryd was able to swallow the liquid that left a burning feeling in his throat, he began to cough in order to stop the burning. John had been laughing at his son's reaction to the liquor.

"We need to take you drinking more often, you need to get used to the feeling!" The captain managed to say while laughing. Jarryd gave his father a stern look as he finished his coughing fit.

"If it feels like **that** every time I drink, I'll pass…" Jarryd gave the shot glass back to his father, who had poured himself another shot.

"So your first year of school ends in about a month, what's your plan for the summer anyway?" John had asked, downing his whiskey. Jarryd hadn't really thought about his summer plans, especially since he had learned that the world would change today. Jarryd knew it depended on what would happen today, but he formulated a plan in his head.

"I honestly don't know, most likely I'll come back aboard for the summer. Ruby has talked about inviting me over to her place on Patch before, but we haven't talked about it much." The last part of Jarryd's statement had been true, Ruby has wanted Jarryd to visit her island home for quite a while, but the couple had never made actual plans to have that happen.

"Aye, that's good to hear! We'll be back to the old days before we know it!" The captain said with a lot of enthusiasm. Jarryd looked down at the floor, remembering what he had been thinking these past few days. He took a deep breath and decided to bring it up to his father.

"Actually, Dad...that's something I've wanted to talk to you about." Jarryd only had to look at John's face for a brief second to see that he was confused.

"What do ya mean by that?"

Jarryd took a deep breath as he realized he shouldn't have opened his mouth.

"Well...Dad, I'm sure you've noticed the changes in me since I started attending Beacon…" John had to agree with his son, before he attended the academy, his son would always stay silent on board the Crimson Raider unless he was talking to Jack Daw, may he rest in peace. The pirate captain loved how Jarryd had come out of his shell in this past year, he even managed to get himself a girlfriend.

"Yes...I feel like there is a lot more to this."

"There is, Dad." Jarryd took a few seconds to think of what he wanted to say and exactly how to word it. "What I've learned at Beacon is more than just combat techniques, I've learned what being a huntsman is all about. We protect the innocent from Grimm and other threats, when what we've done as pirates is rob from the innocent and pillage." Jarryd stopped for a moment to look at his father, who was listening intently with a hand covering his mouth, he continued. "Father, we've hurt people who have done nothing to harm us, while the White Fang are out terrorising innocent people even more than we have! The White Fang are the enemy of everyone, and we need to join in the fight against them!"

After Jarryd's yelling, John had been sitting in his seat, still staring at his son with his hand over his mouth. Jarryd had been breathing heavily while waiting for his father's response.

"So are you proposing that we fight alongside that bastard Ironwood in this fight against an activist group…?" Captain John Starks spoke in a deeper tone of voice that he reserved for when he was trying to hold in anger.

"No, Dad! We don't have to work with General Ironwood in any way, and the White Fang may say they are activists, but they are terrorists!" The young pirate's ranting caused his father to look away for a few moments before his son continued. "All I'm saying is that the White Fang are more dangerous than the Navy is to us right now, they need to be dealt with, and we can help with that!"

John had heard enough, he raised a hand to keep his son from talking even more. "Jarryd Alexander Starks…" Jarryd flinched as he heard his father call out his full name, which he knew meant that his father was mad. "You may be my son, but I won't tolerate you telling me what 'needs to be done'. I am the captain, what **I** say goes...and until given a reason to fight the White Fang, I will take no action against them."

"But Dad-"

"No buts! I can see Ozpin and everyone else at Beacon Academy has turned you soft, especially Ms. Rose…" Jarryd felt his anger rise and his hands balled up into fists at his father's accusation of his girlfriend.

"Don't you dare talk about Ruby like that!" Jarryd had yelled out, loud enough for anyone outside of the captain's quarters to hear. John had turned around to look at his adoptive son, staring him down with eyes full of anger, but John wasn't afraid and didn't back down, and he wouldn't change his mind.

"You'll be lucky if you are even allowed off this boat after the semester ends…This conversation is over, Jarryd."

"Dad-"

"I said 'over!'" The captain's yell made them both go silent for a few seconds, Jarryd turned away and headed for the door, he then turned back to his father.

"Maybe it's best if you didn't come to the match tonight…" John didn't even have time to reply as Jarryd opened the door without another word said. Once Jarryd had exited the room, every person that had heard the argument between the captain and his son had their eyes on him. He paid them little attention and made his way off of the Crimson Raider. Jarryd walked through the streets of downtown Vale, his eyes locked on the ground as he moved along.

Jarryd was stopped in his tracks after running into someone, he stumbled back a little bit before looking up at the person who he ran into, it was Andrew.

"Second time we've run into each other like this, Jarryd. We gotta stop doing that." Andrew laughed while dusting off his vest and fixing up his hair.

"Sorry Andrew, didn't see you there…" Jarryd said, still in his own head.

"It's fine, but what are you doing down here? You got a match to prepare for." Jarryd nodded at the Atlas student.

"I just needed to talk to my dad and take my mind off of some things…" Jarryd decided not to tell Andrew the whole truth, Andrew raised an eyebrow at this.

"What 'things'?" Andrew's question made Jarryd sigh, he tried to think of a way to get out of telling Andrew about the biggest thing that had been bugging him.

"You shouldn't worry about it." Jarryd said, trying to dodge the question, but Andrew was having none of it.

"Usually when someone tells me 'not to worry about it', I should worry about it…" Andrew had a look in his eye that told Jarryd 'I'm not gonna stop asking until you tell me.' "So, what is it?"

"I would tell you, but I think it's also something Jackson should hear as well." Jarryd was now resorting to stalling, trying to find any way to avoid telling Andrew what the stranger has been telling him.

"Well here I am." A voice called out to them, Andrew and Jarryd looked to their right and saw Jackson standing there with a soda cup in his hand from a nearby fast food joint. "So, what's the deal?" Jarryd knew that he couldn't weasel his way out of this, he had to tell them what was going to happen.

"Ok, fine, I'll tell you…" Jarryd looked around and noticed how crowded the downtown area was. "But not here." Jarryd then lead the two brothers to an alley that had nobody there. Jarryd tried to think of the words he wanted to say, how do you describe the possible end of the world. "Alright, do you want the long version or short version of the story?"

"Let's go with the long version." Jackson answered for him and his brother.

"Ok, so recently I've been getting these...visions." Andrew and Jackson were listening intently as Jarryd spoke, seeming like they wanted to ask questions but they wanted Jarryd to continue. "And as you can probably guess, these visions showed me nothing good…"

"Like what?"

"People dying, it seemed like everything was falling apart. I've talked to...someone about this, and they said that those aren't just visions, and that the events in my visions would happen...today." Jarryd's story shocked the two brothers, they looked towards each other and back to Jarryd.

"Wait, who told you that those visions were real?" Jarryd knew he'd done it now, not only had he let the two know the secret that he had been sworn to keep, now he was under pressure to tell them about the stranger who had been visiting him. But just as he was about to explain, a voice called out from the rooftops.

" **I** did."

The 3 teens looked towards the roof where the voice had come from, the man in the purple cloak had been looking down at them, with his hood still covering the upper half of his face. The stranger jumped down and landed before the 3 boys, Jarryd just stood still as he watched the person who had been following him the past few months, Andrew and Jackson stepped back with looks of confusion and amazement.

"Ok...First thing, that was cool!" Jackson yelled out with excitement, Andrew facepalmed at his brother's reaction. "Second, who in the blue hell are you!?" The cloaked stranger just kept standing still and looking forward.

"You will know my identity in due time, but right now, besides Jarryd, you two are the only ones who knows what will transpire today." The stranger said, leaving Andrew and Jackson still very confused.

"So what Jarryd saw in his visions is going to actually happen?" Andrew asked, trying to find anyway to grasp the situation. The stranger only nodded. "Well you're the one who told him, so how did you know in it would happen in the first place!?"

"Because I was there when it happened."

This reply wasn't what anyone had been expecting, up until that point, Jarryd didn't even know how he knew about the events in his visions.

"So you're from the future?! You're a time traveler?!" Andrew was yelling out, trying to wrap his head around the situation. "How is that even possible?!"

"The right semblance can accomplish anything, even the things we used to think impossible…" Andrew and Jackson seemed to be wonderstruck at this idea of the stranger coming from the apparently-doomed future.

"Jarryd said that the world seemed like it was falling apart...Is the world going to end today?!" Jackson kept yelling his questions, now freaking out.

"No, the world doesn't 'end', if it ended, I wouldn't be here..." This made the boys all take a sigh of relief, and Jackson sweat drop at his own stupid question. "But I know countless lives will be taken, including most of Jarryd's friends…" Jarryd started to connect what the stranger was saying to his visions, Cinder standing over a defeated Pyrrha, Yang getting her arm cut off by that masked man who had stabbed Blake, it was all making sense.

"So those visions I saw of Yang, Blake and Pyrrha, they all die?" Jarryd asked with his voice softening, Jarryd swore he saw Jackson blush a tiny bit at the mention of Yang's name.

"That is correct." The stranger said before continuing. "But like I've told you, Jarryd. You have the power to change these events because many of these events are connected to you, you've already made a step towards through Pyrrha trusting you." Jarryd nodded, Andrew and Jackson looked towards each other.

"Sir?" Andrew said, gaining the attention of the cloaked stranger. "If you don't mind me asking, do Jackson and I...die today?" The stranger looked at both brothers with dead silence for a few seconds.

"No, neither of you die." The brothers took another sigh of relief, but the stranger wasn't done. "But there **are** fates worse than death…" Andrew and Jackson gave each other a scared look, as the cloaked man started to think. "Maybe you two can actually help…"

"How?!" Andrew and Jackson yelled at the same time, obviously wanting to help now.

"Attend the championship round tonight, but bring your weapons, and get ready to fight at the first sign of trouble." The stranger told them. Andrew nodded in agreement while Jackson seemed to be thinking.

"Wait a minute…" Jackson started to speak, making the others look towards him. "You're telling us to change the future, if that theory about the space-time continuum is correct you should be disappearing!" Jackson yelled.

"I admit, I thought the same thing at first, but technically that won't go into effect until the outcome of the future has actually changed, which as you can see hasn't happened yet." The stranger said, giving the boys time to wrap their heads around the situation.

"So you're saying that you won't disappear until we stop the world from having this apocalyptic fate?" Jarryd asked the man.

"Not just me, my entire timeline. Meaning that the future you saw in your visions will no longer exist." The 3 students looked towards each other as if they were plotting their next move in their head.

"Another quick question, why can this be known between only us?" Andrew questioned. "If other people knew about this, maybe we could have more help in preventing that future…" Andrew had a point, why did he have to keep this whole situation a secret when his whole team could help him out.

"I thought about that as well, but besides you two and Jarryd, anyone else who had knowledge of this information wouldn't do anything different that would prevent their fates." Jarryd walked towards Andrew and Jackson with a determined look in his eyes.

"I know I'm going to do what has to be done to change the future, are you guys in?" Jarryd asked the two brothers, Andrew seemed to be contemplating the question, but Jackson just gave a wide smile.

"I think you already know my answer…" Jackson walked up to Jarryd and shook his hand. "Let's do this thing!" Jarryd smiled at the willingness of Jackson, they both turned back to Andrew who was now looking at them and shaking his head with a smile.

"Well, someone has to look after Jackson and makes sure he doesn't end up getting himself killed. I'm in as well." Andrew joined the other two, Jackson gave him a playful punch in the arm as a sign of approval, Jarryd put a hand on Andrew's shoulder and smiled at him.

"Excellent." The man in the cloak said, causing the 3 to turn back and face him. "You know what you have to do, I'm leaving this up to you now." The stranger said before beginning to jump off of the building walls and disappear from the rooftops. The 3 boys just stood, looking at where the time traveler had vanished from view.

"Well guys…" Jarryd turned to look at the two brothers. "You ready to change the future?" The students all smiled and nodded at the same time. Jackson then seemed to have a lightbulb go off in his head.

"Hey Jarryd, I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"What is it?" Jarryd and Andrew saw Jackson look to the ground and saw a slight blush appear on his face.

"Your blonde teammate...Is she single?"

 **Stadium Entrance-6:45 PM**

Team RWBY had just gotten off of an airship as they walked towards the place where the final round of the Vytal Tournament was about to take place. Right before they entered the building, the girls stopped and turned to face Jarryd.

"Since we got here a little later then we should have, I should go get ready for the match…" Jarryd told the girls.

"That's fine, Mom and Dad are probably waiting for us in the stands anyways. Go knock 'em dead bro!" Yang said, giving the lone male a fist pound.

"Good luck." Blake said softly with a small smile, Jarryd smiled back at the female faunus.

"I swear if you came all this way just to lose in the final round, you will receive the scorning of a lifetime!" Weiss yelled out and giving Jarryd a threatening look, he simply rolled his eyes as Ruby walked up to him next.

"She's right you know, you promised that you would win…"

"And I will, that's a promise that I don't intend to break…" Jarryd replied before leaning in and giving Ruby a quick kiss. The couple looked into each other's eyes for a few more seconds before parting.

"Good luck…" Ruby whispered before leaving with the rest of the team. Jarryd sighed before walking off towards the entrance tunnel.

While walking to his spot, he felt someone bump into his side purposefully with their chest, Jarryd turned to see who this person was and saw his upcoming opponent, Irene Chamelian. The girl gave Jarryd her trademark smirk.

"Oh, that's my bad...though I'm not sure you minded…" Irene said while puffing out her chest a little, Jarryd just rolled his eyes at her flirting attempts.

"Sorry, I'm taken."

"I know, you're with that girl I knocked out 2 matches ago. She's what, 15? I didn't know you were into younger women…" Irene said, walking towards the pirate while swaying her hips attractively. "Hopefully you will be a much tougher opponent…"

"Well I promised that girl that I would win today…" Jarryd said looking directly into Irene's eyes, giving her an identical smirk. "And I don't break promises." The two fighters stared at each other for a few more seconds before Irene broke the silence.

"I guess we'll find out if that's true…" Irene started to walk towards her designated tunnel before she turned around. "I'll see you out there soon, pirate boy." The nickname she gave Jarryd shocked him a bit, she knew about his origins.

"How did you-"

"I did a little bit of digging, and eventually all I had to do was connect the dots." Irene replied before finally walking off, leaving Jarryd in a stupor, suddenly Jarryd felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay man? you've still gotta fight out there…" Jackson said, looking at the pirate's dumbfounded expression, Andrew was right behind his brother.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jarryd brushed Jackson's hand off his shoulder. "Your teammate just seems to weird me out everytime I encounter her."

"Irene will be like that a lot, and I mean **a lot**." Andrew said, putting emphasis on the last part of his sentence. Jarryd saw that both brothers had been carrying their weapons with them, Andrew had Black Cardinal strapped on his back and Jackson had Truth's Fang sheathed on his waist.

"Alright, just remember guys, at the first sign of trouble, be ready to fight…" Jarryd told the two, trying to get them ready.

"You don't have to tell us, this is possibly the fate of the world we are talking about here, we're completely focused." Andrew responded, but both Jarryd and Jackson could tell that he was nervous.

"Drew, we've got this, as long as we have anything to say about it, whatever is about to attack us is gonna get a harsh reminder not to mess with the Blink Brothers!" Jackson said while putting both hands on his brother's shoulders.

"By the way Jackson, you sure your illness won't come up if things get hectic?" Jarryd asked him.

"I should be good to go for a while, but I can't make any promises. But with Andrew around, I'll be ok." Jackson replied with a small smile. Jarryd couldn't help but be reminded of his time with Jack aboard the Crimson Raider, the two always had each other's backs and looked out for each other.

"Alright guys, you get to the stands…" Jarryd said before turning towards the tunnel. "I've got a fight to win first." Jarryd began to walk into the tunnel leaving Andrew and Jackson behind, Jackson yelled back at him.

"You got it Chief!" Jackson yelled to Jarryd before being dragged off by Andrew up to their seats. Jarryd got into the tunnel and saw the bright lights of the arena outside, he was amazed of how many people came to watch this fight, just from his small viewing point. Jarryd saw the outline of a female being silhouetted in front of him due to the bright lights, he got closer and was able to identify the person.

"Penny?"

The girl turned around to reveal the same red-headed girl that he and Ruby had made friends with while trying to find Blake during her crisis. Penny seemed surprised to find Jarryd down there right next to her.

"Oh, Jarryd! I forgot that you were one of the two fighting today." Penny said in her usual monotone voice.

"Yeah, what are you doing down here anyway? I thought everyone had to watch from the stands." Jarryd asked Penny, who seemed to turn red at the pirate's question.

"I…um…" Penny began to stutter. "I snuck down here because I wanted to watch the fight up close, please don't tell anyone!" Penny replied quickly, Jarryd couldn't tell if she was nervous or embarrassed in some way if she didn't want him to tell anyone.

"Sure." Jarryd's short response caused Penny to look at him in surprise.

"Really?"

"Of course, what sort of friend would I be if I did?" Jarryd's words made Penny take a step back and take in what he said, the word 'friend' seemed to have the biggest effect on her. Penny rushed up and crushed Jarryd in a bear hug. Jarryd eventually pried Penny off of him as a booming voice came over the loudspeaker.

"WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FINALE OF THE VYTAL FESTIVAL TOURNAMENT!" Doctor Oobleck yelled over the loudspeaker.

"Does your teacher always yell like that?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Yes, that's right Bartholomew. In a few short minutes we will see the impressive academy students, Irene Chamelian and Jarryd Starks face off to see who will take home the Vytal Tournament crown!" Professor Port said after Dr. Oobleck. "Both Mr. Starks and Ms. Chamelian's battle to reach this moment are true underdog stories. Irene Chamelian went into this tournament as someone who seemed forgotten in the lineup, and yet she has managed to get here by going through the toughest of competition, while Jarryd Starks wasn't even a student at Beacon Academy until a few weeks into the semester, yet his strategic mind and powerful semblance have yet to meet a match."

Jarryd was biding his time and waiting for the professor to finish his speech, until he had to introduce the fighters, which would be his cue to enter the arena. Penny had been listening to Port and Oobleck's praise of the young pirate intently.

"Your instructors seem to think highly of you."

"I guess I must have impressed them somehow…" Jarryd said softly as Professor Port kept speaking.

"But enough chatter, it's time to introduce our combatants!" Port announced, the crowds response was a loud roar of cheers and applause. Jarryd inched towards the tunnel's exit and looked back towards Penny.

"Wish me luck."

"Good luck!" Penny said to him with a smile and her eyes closed.

"Hailing from Atlas Academy, please welcome Irene Chamelian!" Realizing that was her cue, Jarryd saw Irene come out of the tunnel on the opposite side of his, she was looking at the crowd with a sense of pride, eating up the applause. Jarryd still had a funny feeling in his gut, Irene had that overly confident look on her face, it seemed like she was planning something, she thinks she has already won. It was then Jarryd's turn to be introduced.

"From Vale's own Beacon Academy, please welcome Jarryd Starks!" The crowd roared again, most likely cheering for their hometown representative. Jarryd took a quick breath as he walked out onto the field, he began to slightly wave to the audience as he looked through the crowd. He found Ruby and the rest of the team, but there was one notable person missing, his father who he had told it would be best if he didn't show up. He had heeded his son's advice. After a few moments of staring into the crowd his own blue eyes met Irene's. Just by looking at each other they could feel the tension between them. Irene gave the pirate a cocky grin and spoke up.

"It's the final match, Handsome. Hopefully you don't bore me like any of my other fight's…"

"You won your battles through trickery…" Jarryd unsheathed his sword and got into a running stance. "What happens when you face someone who know's your tricks?"

"I don't know, I'll tell you if that ever happens…" Irene said before readying her staff and getting into a running position like Jarryd was in. Professor Oobleck's voice came over the loudspeaker again.

"Are both combatants ready?" Jarryd and Irene didn't say anything, but gave a nod of approval. Both students were looking at each other with a look that would scare even a beowolf.

"Then let the Vytal Tournament Championship begin in 3…"

Irene tilted her head to both sides in order to crack her neck.

"2…"

Jarryd poured out water from one of his canisters and allowed the water to form a gauntlet around his hand.

"1…"

Both fighters sat in wait, anxious for Professor Port to say the word, so they could finally face each other. Then it finally came.

"Go!"

Like a bullet, both Jarryd and Irene raced straight forward, approaching each other with weapons ready. Jarryd raised his sword and swung downwards with all of his might, Irene took a defensive position with her staff and blocked the strike. The two kept swinging at each other in the same position, after a strike that caused the two to step back and recover, Jarryd punched Irene with his sword hand and while Irene gave his face a roundhouse kick, both strikes made them spin around. When the both recovered, Jarryd shot his hand which held the water gauntlet towards Irene stomach, while Irene placed her staff in the same spot on Jarryd. Irene hit Jarryd with an explosion from her staff while Jarryd sent forward a stream of high-pressure water, making the two fly backwards.

Jarryd quickly got back up and drew one of his revolvers, with the gauntlet of water still on his other hand. He rushed forward again and began to shoot at the female fighter, who seemed to dodge the attacks by elegantly spinning, like some sort of exotic dancer. Jarryd sent out some more water in the form of a whip and swung it at Irene, who simply jumped over the attack and moved towards Jarryd, who realized he had to method in which he could block with. Irene swung the end of her staff into Jarryd's side, and the proceeded to whack Jarryd in the face multiple times. Jarryd quickly reached for Crimson Fury and brought it up, interlocking the blade and staff. Jarryd and Irene's eyes met once again, Irene's face held a cocky grin, while Jarryd's held a scowl.

"You and I could've been something special, y'know?" Irene said in a sultry tone.

"Sorry, but I don't date crazy people!" Jarryd replied. Irene's eyes shifted into a fake expression of hurt.

"Oh, is that so…?" Irene quickly pushed against Jarryd's cutlass and performed a backflip kick which connected with Jarryd's chin, causing him to perform a backflip as well, but unlike Irene who landed gracefully on both feet, Jarryd crashed into the ground back-first. As Jarryd tried to get up, he saw Irene ready to bring her staff down into his back, Jarryd quickly rolled out of the way as the staff landed on the ground where he was a second ago. Jarryd quickly got to his knees and slashed at Irene's arm which held her staff, Irene recoiled a bit from the pain that engulfed her arm, giving Jarryd enough time to load a explosive bullet into his revolver and fire, sending Irene backwards and creating distance between them.

Jarryd rose to his feet as he compared his and Irene's aura levels, Jarryd's aura was about a sliver lower than Irene's as both of their aura's were into the yellow phase. He then looked towards Irene who had then activated her semblance and disappeared from Jarryd's vision. Jarryd quickly dumped out another canister onto the ground and spread the water throughout the entire field of battle, as the water flooded the area, suddenly he could see splashes coming from the right side of his vision, he had found out where she was. Jarryd aimed his revolver and shot right above the splashes.

The rubber bullets seemed to hit their mark as Irene reappeared right in front of him, Jarryd quickly thought of an idea and used the water underneath the two to disappear and then fly up from underneath Irene, giving her a hard uppercut as he came up. Both fighters went soaring through the air, except Jarryd had control over where he was going while Irene was like a ragdoll in midair. Jarryd saw another chance to attack as he brought up a spout of water and sent it towards Irene, sending her forcefully into the ground. Jarryd landed on his feet as Irene stumbled to get up. The expressions of both students were opposite of what they usually were, Jarryd had a smirk on his face while Irene had a grimace of pain on hers.

"I thought you said I didn't know your tricks?" Jarryd asked the girl, whose clothes were starting to tear a bit from the fight. Irene smiled again as she regained balance.

"Oh, you thought that was all…?" Irene replied, causing Jarryd to raise an eyebrow. Irene reached for her staff and seemed to turn a dial on it. "I've got another trick up my sleeve!" Irene yelled as she launched another blast at Jarryd, except unlike what he had seen before this rocket heading towards him was a lot larger, his eyes grew wide as he realized he needed to move. He jumped out of the way just as the shot arrived to where he was standing before, a large explosion occurred, which blew Jarryd off course and he painfully slid on his side. Jarryd looked close at both of their auras again, Irene was nearing red, but Jarryd wasn't too far behind her, he knew he couldn't be hit by an explosion like that or the fight would be over. Irene fired another shot, which Jarryd ran out of the way of, this time the explosion didn't touch him as he ran towards the girl. Jarryd dodged the explosive shots coming from every direction until he was finally within distance to attack, he swung his sword over his head and brought it down, which Irene sidestepped away from. The Atlas student swung at Jarryd's back with all of her might and connected, she then grabbed his shoulder and pulled him backwards and throwing him over her shoulder causing him to come crashing to the ground with a large thud. Jarryd tried to quickly get back up, but was met with a full-force drop kick from Irene, sending him about 20 yards backwards.

Jarryd took a second to recover and he struggled to get up, when he looked up, he saw another shot from Irene's staff coming his way, but he didn't have enough time to move away in time, he quickly put his arms in front of him and braced for impact, then the shot reached it's target.

A big cloud of dust rose from the explosion, covering the area Jarryd was in, many members of the audience held their breath, waiting to see if Jarryd was ok, but the dust cloud seemed to refuse to go away. Team RWBY sat in shock, trying to find their teammate in the cloud.

"He's ok, he has to be ok! Right!?" Yang yelled out, worried that her 'brother' was seriously hurt and lost the match.

"I don't know, you how powerful those explosions were, and he took one on full force…" Weiss replied, she had been biting her nails the entire time, also worried about her male teammate.

"And his aura was already fairly low...He might be near death for all we know…" Blake also answered, her face surprisingly away from her book. The three girls looked over to their team leader, who had tears starting to come out of her eyes.

"Jarryd...please...please be ok!" Ruby yelled out, even louder than Yang had yelled. After about 30 seconds, the dust cloud still remained, and Jarryd hadn't emerged. The entire audience had been silent. Irene smirked, put away her staff, and turned away triumphantly.

"Sorry, pirate boy...but I warned you…" Irene said as she started to walk away and wave to the crowd, but she didn't see a few waves of water creeping up behind her. Suddenly the waves shot out and started to flow around Irene and condense together, trapping her in a large bubble. Irene started to flail about, but she wasn't able to move an inch as the bubble held her in place. Suddenly, Jarryd ran out of the dust cloud, sword at the ready, something was different about Crimson Fury, as the crimson sword seemed to have a light blue outline, along with Jarryd's own eyes.

Jarryd gave out a loud battle cry as he slashed at the bubble that held Irene trapped within. The bubble seemed to have a delayed reaction as it exploded and Irene let out a cry of pain as she fell to the ground. Jarryd turned around and saw that Irene's aura was in the red, while his own was a deep yellow. The blue glow that surrounded Jarryd's eyes and his sword disappeared as he started to breath heavily. Then Jarryd spoke.

"A good rule of combat...never turn your back on an opponent…" Jarryd said softly, after a few moments of shock, Professor Port came over the loudspeaker again.

"It's over! Jarryd Starks is your Vytal Tournament champion!"

The crowd erupted to a deafening level of volume, Jarryd fell to his knee in exhaustion, sword still in hand. Jarryd looked out into the crowd and saw people jumping up and down in excitement over his victory, his eyes landed on his team, who had been celebrating amongst themselves as well. Jarryd rose a hand above his head and pumped his fist in triumph before rising to his feet. Jarryd was able to make eye contact with Ruby, who seemed to be on the verge of tears of joy, he nodded his head in a way that told her that he fulfilled his promise. The crowd began to chant his name.

As he waved to the crowd, he failed to see Irene get up from where she had landed, she quickly reached for her staff and turned the dial again to an even higher level of intensity, but Jarryd didn't see as she gave another grin and fired a shot at his back. Jarryd heard the noise and turned backwards to see the shot heading straight for him, once again, he didn't have time to dodge, all he could do was turn his shoulder, trying to soften the blow.

He heard an explosion, but didn't feel any pain…

Jarryd opened his eyes and saw what endured the full force of the blast, except it wasn't what, it was who. The first sign as to who was their bright orange hair and gray outfit…his eyes widened in horror.

"PENNY!"

As Jarryd saw Penny's body hit the ground, her body seemed to fly apart in a heap of what seemed like wires and machinery. A gasp filled the arena as Jarryd ran over to the fallen red-head, he knelt down and saw Penny's literally broken state as her body had been blown apart, he saw that her insides were all mechanics and electric equipment.

'She's an...Android!?'

While in the midst of his stupor, he didn't realize that Penny was still conscious and was looking at Jarryd. She smiled at the pirate.

"Jarryd...are you ok?" Penny asked him in her usual monotone voice.

"Penny...I'm ok...but why? Why did you do that!?" Jarryd yelled, his eyes starting to water, wondering why in the world Penny would sacrifice herself for him.

"That's simple. You're my friend, and I'll protect my friends even at the cost of my life…" Penny replied, a tear ran down Jarryd's cheek as he watched a friend give their life for him again.

"I'm s-so sorry, Penny…"

"Don't be sorry Jarryd, you and Ruby gave me a purpose in life...and I've fulfilled my purpose." Jarryd looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Ruby with her face buried into her hands, tears streaming down her face. She looked as if she was ready to scream. "Jarryd...thank you, for everything." Penny said as she lowered her head, her face shifting to a blank expression. Penny was gone. Jarryd wanted to say something, but no words were coming to mind. Irene was the one who ended up breaking the silence.

"Oops, did I break your doll...how sad." Irene said, with obvious sarcasm in her voice. Jarryd felt the anger fill up inside of him as he stood up and pointed one of his pistols towards Irene's head, finger ready to pull the trigger. Irene pointed her staff at him in response

"Why…?" Jarryd asked Penny's killer. "The match was over! What are you trying to pull!?"

"Oh, you'll see…" Irene replied, still with a wide grin on her face.

"Just what the hell are you-" Jarryd was interrupted when the jumbotron inside the stadium switched its view to a white screen, with a black chess piece in the middle. Jarryd's eyes widened as he recognized the symbol, it was the same one he and Ruby saw the night of the school dance. Suddenly, a voice boomed over the stadium speakers, and it wasn't Professor Port or Oobleck.

"This is not a tragedy. This is not an accident…" A female voice said, Jarryd was able to recognize the voice quickly.

'Cinder!' He thought, sweat now rolling down the side of his face.

"This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are in reality, nothing more than men…"

Jarryd looked back at the crowd, noticing Andrew and Jackson standing up, with hands already gripping the handles of their respective weapons, Ruby had been staring at the heap of metal that used to be their friend Penny while the rest of their team was trying to wrap their heads around what this person was going on about.

"Our academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both…" Cinder said, referring to General Ironwood. "They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One nation's attempt at a synthetic army mercilessly torn apart. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference."

The mention of Penny by Cinder started to make Jarryd shake with anger, knowing that Penny just gave her life for his.

"And also our beloved champion, Jarryd Starks, gets an invite to Beacon Academy without any previous credentials. How did Ozpin find such a talent you may ask? What if I told you that Mr. Starks here was the byproduct of everyone's favorite band of thieves and murderers, The Red Band…" An audible gasp could be heard from the crowd after the civilians heard this information, that the one they had been cheering for was a member of the infamous pirate band. Jarryd looked around again, noticing that many onlookers seemed to look at him with fear in their eyes instead of pride. He cringed, knowing his biggest secret was revealed to all.

"A synthetic girl that Ironwood deems as disposable, and a boy who grew up learning from proven criminals...what were our headmasters trying to accomplish? Perhaps Ozpin hoped that victory in this tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when Grimm invaded it's streets. Or perhaps this was a message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces…" Cinder's words seemed to do what she wanted them to, as some people in the crowd seemed to be giving looks of slight agreement with her words. "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong, but I know that the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is equally desirable." Jarryd's eyes focused on the screen again, staring at the symbol showing, his nightmares were trying to become reality.

"Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?" Cinder finished her speech, Jarryd looked down to try and find Irene again, but she seemingly disappeared during the speech. Just then, a loud alarm started to ring.

" _ALERT: Incoming Grimm attack. Threat Level: 9. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."_ At the mention of a Grimm attack, civilians started rushing from the stands and making their way out of the stadium, most of the students stayed behind. Suddenly, General Ironwood's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please, there is no need for panic!" Ironwood said, trying to calm the people down. Then a loud roar and a crash could be heard from above, everyone looked to see a Nevermore perched upon the barrier of the stadium, trying to break through. Jarryd looked at the Nevermore in horror.

"How did that get through the kingdom's defenses!?" He heard Jackson yell out.

"If that was able to get through...then it can't be alone…" Andrew answered his brother. The Nevermore then flew up and started to dive bomb towards the barrier, shattering it and landing in front of Jarryd, he flew back a few feet by managed to stay upright. The Nevermore charged at Jarryd, who readied his sword as he had nowhere else to move, then a shadow lashed out from behind Jarryd and blasted the giant beast backwards. The Nevermore took flight and began to hover in the same place. Jarryd saw Andrew and Jackson run up beside him.

"That was close, next time make sure that I don't have to save you." Andrew said as the shadow he was controlling disappeared.

"Yeah, thanks Andrew." Jarryd responded as he saw both brothers had their weapons out, Andrew with his halberd and Jackson with his saber. The pirate realized that the ground they were standing on was still covered with water, a plan came to his head. "Guys, I have an idea!"

"Well speak now, or we'll forever be resting in peace!" Jackson yelled at Jarryd, who was taking note of the Nevermore's position.

"Andrew, I need you to draw it into the middle and then keep it there…" Jarryd said while looking towards the older brother, Andrew nodded in response.

"Can do."

"Jackson, when I say the word, I want you to rush in and finish the thing off!"

"Sweet! I get the fun part!"

"Alright, let's do this." As if on cue, the Nevermore flew low towards the 3 boys, but Andrew countered by forming a solid wall of shadows in front of them. The Nevermore took evasive maneuvers and flew back up into the air, Andrew commanded the shadow to follow the beast as it formed a cylinder around it, trapping it inside.

Jarryd then sent much of the water that was inside the arena hovering over the cylinder, and sent in down on top of the Nevermore, sending it crashing to the ground. Andrew let go of his shadow as the trap disappeared, revealing the grounded creature.

"Jackson. Now!" Jarryd yelled out, and Jackson took off running towards the Grimm.

"You're done for!" Jackson yelled out as he jumped in the air and came down on top of the Nevermore's skull, piercing it with his saber. With one last roar of pain, the beast went limp and died. Jarryd and Andrew relaxed their bodies as Jackson pulled out his blade from the creature's corpse and throw his hand up and cheer triumphantly.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" Jackson yelled out, Jarryd and Andrew shared a look of triumph and pride, knowing already that they worked well as a team. Suddenly, the Nevermore's corpse was impaled by multiple objects falling out of the sky. After the onslaught stopped, Jarryd saw that they were the lockers from the academy, which opened up to reveal the weapons of every student who stayed in the arena. As Jarryd saw the remaining students rush to grab their weapons, Ruby ran up and hugged him as tight as she possibly could.

"Jarryd, are you ok!?" Ruby screamed as she hugged her boyfriend.

"Ruby, I'm fine. It's just…" Jarryd stopped himself as he looked over and saw Penny's body still lying in pieces.

"Penny…" Ruby said softly, remembering every event that had just happened. Jarryd held Ruby close as he comforted her.

"She shouldn't have had take that shot for me...I should've seen it coming…" Jarryd said trying to avoid Ruby's eyesight, but she pulled his face back to look at her.

"Hey, don't blame yourself, there was no way you could have known that girl would attack again." Ruby said with her hands on Jarryd's cheeks. Jarryd then realized what she just said and recalled previous events. Irene must have been working with Cinder. Jarryd turned towards Jackson and Andrew again.

"Speaking of which, did either of you two know that your teammate was working with these people!?" Jarryd asked with anger seething through him.

"We had no idea! Sure she acted weird most of the time that we've known her, but we didn't expect anything like this!"

"Though now that I see it, it explains a lot of her behavior…"

"But dude, you never told us that you were a pirate, much less from The Red Band!" Jackson yelled out at Jarryd. "Those guys are some of the biggest criminals around!"

"Just from talking to me, you should be able to see that I'm not a criminal…" Jarryd responded slowly as he got in Jackson's face. Yang had to pull the two apart.

"Guys, stop it! Right now that isn't important!"

"Yang's right you two, there are people out there who need our help, we can't sit by and bicker while they suffer!" said Blake, also trying to calm the two down. After a few seconds of silence, Jackson took a big sigh.

"She's right, I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to snap at you…"

"It's ok, I just hope I can prove that not all pirates are thieves and killers." Jarryd said holding out his hand to Jackson, which he grabbed and shook.

"Now that you guys have had your little pow-wow, we should get moving, we have work to do." A female voice said, everyone turned to see the rest of the students, all with their weapons in hand, looking ready and eager to fight.

"Yeah, let's go…" Jarryd replied, everyone now moving towards the arena's exit. The group approached the ships that were loading people trying to evacuate, when they were approached by General Ironwood.

"General, what's going on!?" Ruby asked the Atlas headmaster, a stern look heavy on his face.

"Grimm are crawling all over the city, the White Fang has invaded Beacon, and to make matters worse some...vagabond has seized one of my ships." Ironwood looked at the cloudy sky behind him and sighed. "Until we regain command, the skies are out of our control… So I'm-" The general stopped and pointed a pistol at something behind the students, he fired and a thud was heard, the group turned to see a dead Beowolf at their feet. "Going to take it back…"

"But General, what should we do?" Sun asked, Ironwood turned back to them and put his hands behind his back.

"You have two choices...defend your kingdom and your school, or save yourselves…" Ironwood turned again and walked into an Atlas ship. "No one will fault you if you leave." He said before the ship doors closed behind him and the ship took off. The students all looked around at each other, wondering what their next move would be. Jaune spotted a ship out of the corner of his eye.

"We can take that ship to Beacon!"

"Great! Everyone, let's go!" Neptune yelled as they all ran towards the ship and boarded. Neon, the girl Jarryd fought earlier in the tournament ran up and told the pilot where they were going and in a matter of seconds, the ship took off. Jarryd stood by a window, looking out at the destruction the Grimm were causing.

"Damn...this is what that stranger was talking about, wasn't it…" Jarryd said softly to himself, Jackson and Andrew quickly approached.

"That guy was right, things went to hell pretty quick…" Jackson said, looking out the same window Jarryd was.

"Well, at least we know how to prevent this from doing even more damage, right?" Andrew responded, trying to bring back a hopeful mood.

"Yeah…" Jackson said quietly as he started to nibble at his nails.

"Something bothering you, Jackson?" Jarryd asked the younger brother, Jackson turned to him, not with his usual happy look, but one of confusion and anger.

"I just don't get it...why would Irene betray us?! Was she working with them the whole time?!" Jackson yelled, looking towards Jarryd and his brother for any possible answer.

"I don't know, brother...but I can assure you that she won't get away with it!" Andrew told his brother while placing a hand on Jackson's shoulder. Just then, Jarryd felt a vibration in his pocket, which he knew was his scroll. He pulled it out and saw the caller ID.

"Dad?"

The name across the croll's screen confused Jarryd a little bit, but he remembered that his father was still in the Vale docks. He hurriedly answered the call as his dad's voice came through the speakers.

"Hello? Jarryd, are you there!?" Jarryd's father asked, a faint sound of gunshots and explosions could be heard in the background.

"I'm here, Dad. What's going on? Are you ok!?"

"Yeah, I'm ok at the moment, don't know how long that will last though." the pirate captain answered, but he wasn't finished talking. "You, were right about the White Fang, they've boarded the ship and our attacking our men!"

"Can you hold them off?"

"I'm not sure. But here's the kicker, they're being led by that Irene girl you just fought…"

A silence swept the room, the rest of the students onboard could hear the call and were staring at Jarryd. Jackson and Andrew looked to each other at the mention of their traitorous teammate.

"Son, listen...If I don't make it out of this alive, I just want to say that I'm sorry I ever doubted you, and I will always love you, no matter what."

"Dad, don't talk like that!" Jarryd yelled back at his father.

"I'm sorry Jarryd, it's just-Oh shi-" The call cut out there after a loud explosion was heard through the speaker.

"Dad!" Jarryd stood in disbelief and looked around the ship, everyone's eyes were looking directly into his. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw some parachute, most likely in case the ship were to crash. Jarryd shoved his scroll in his pocket and ran over to the parachutes, grabbed one and headed straight for a door to the outside of the ship.

"Jarryd, what're you doing?!" Sun yelled at him. Jarryd stopped just outside of the door and looked towards the monkey faunus.

"I'm saving my dad…" He said before opening the door and running out. Andrew and Jackson gave each other a brief look and did the same as Jarryd, grabbing two other parachutes. Jarryd looked down at the city of Vale, witnessing all of the destruction that the Grimm and the White Fang were causing. He then laid his eyes upon the Vale docks and saw the Crimson Raider taking heavy damage. Jarryd closed his eyes and took a breath, and he jumped off of the ship, not seeing Andrew and Jackson right behind him.

As the three boys fell towards the docks, Jarryd looked back and saw the two brothers falling next to him.

"You guys didn't have to follow me, you know!" He yelled back at them so they could hear.

"The hell we don't! We're changing the future together!" Jackson yelled back, giving Jarryd two thumbs up.

"Besides, your dad said Irene is down there...I think we settle the score here and now!" said Andrew. Jarryd smiled at the brothers.

"Glad to know I can count on you guys!"

"Of course, we aren't about to just abando-Holy crap, look out!" Jackson yelled, pointing towards a Nevermore flying straight towards them. Each of the boys took their own evasive maneuvers, making the Nevermore fly right past them.

"Jeez! The general wasn't kidding about the skies!"

"Well the city doesn't look much better!" Andrew pointed to the destruction below, the three could see the Grimm ravaging the buildings and storefronts, while cutting down any civilian in their way. Jarryd saw how close they had gotten to the ground and reached for the cord on the parachute.

"Ok guys, get ready to pull!" Jarryd told the brothers, who grabbed the cords on their own chutes. They waited a few more seconds before Jarryd gave the cue. "Pull!" They all pulled on their cord at the same time, and 3 chutes came out from the pack, the force made their bodies recoil a bit. After recovering from the sudden movement, Jarryd quickly emptied his pistols of rubber bullets and loaded real ones into the cylinder. The three floated down and landed together, throwing off their packs and quickly running to the Crimson Raider which wasn't too far from their landing zone.

Some grimm who were wrecking nearby buildings turned their attention to the three and chased after them. Andrew quickly acted by walling off the grimm with a wall made from shadows, he then formed a full box around them and closed the walls around them, crushing the grimm. Finally reaching the docks, the boys saw the White Fang spread all over the place, with a few members of the Red Band trying to combat them, including Max and Audrey King. Jarryd ran up grabbed one of the White Fang goons in a chokehold, then body-slammed him into the deck head first, knocking the gang member out cold. Andrew found his own target and gave him a swift chop to the neck, rendering them unconscious, while Jackson took a less subtle approach by running straight at a soldier and drop kicking him into the water beneath them. Jarryd looked and saw Max get shoved to the ground by a White Fang goon, while Audrey hung onto the thugs back before being forcefully thrown off. The thug then aimed the rifle in his hand at Audrey's head, Jarryd charged straight at the masked criminal and rammed into his with his shoulder, knocking the man into the wooden deck. Jarryd ran up again and kicked the downed man in the chin, and he quickly was knocked out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Jarryd quickly ran back over to Max and Audrey and helped them up, Max quickly gave Jarryd his thanks.

"Oh my god, thanks Jarryd! I thought I had him but nearly got us both killed."

"Hey, it's fine, you both are ok, that's what matters." Jarryd told the younger pirate, he turned around and was met with a hug from Audrey.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Audrey yelled, refusing to let Jarryd go. Jarryd just raised his eyebrows and half hugged her back.

"We heard about the Nevermore breaking through the stadium barrier and Audrey started freaking out, but before we knew it, these White Fang jerkbags were all over us!" Max told their captain's son. Andrew and Jackson had taken down the rest of the White Fang soldiers on the dock and joined the group.

"Yeah, I'm ok, but where's my dad?" Jarryd asked the brother and sister, Max's eyes widened at the question.

"Oh crap! I forgot! The captain was in his quarters last I saw him, and that's where the girl who was leading them ran towards!" Max answered, referring to Irene.

"I've gotta get to him!" Jarryd yelled, running up the ramp and onto the ship, everyone else not far behind. Everyone looked out onto the deck and saw even more fighting between the pirates and White Fang thugs. Jarryd turned to look at Andrew and Jackson. "You two help the others fight the White Fang off, I'll deal with Irene!" Jarryd yelled before running towards his father's quarters, the two brothers didn't question his orders and ran out to join the brawl.

Jarryd weaved his way towards the captain's cabin, trying to dodge the gang members that were blocking his path. One thug jumped in front of him and swung his rifle at Jarryd's ahead. Jarryd ducked, grabbed the guy's head and slammed it against his knee. He didn't check to see if they were unconscious before he kept moving.

Once he reached the door to his father's room, Jarryd swung the door open with a pistol at the ready, and saw Irene pointing her staff at Jarryd's father, who was laying against the wall, blood pouring down the side of his face. Jarryd aimed and fired without thinking, knocking the staff out of Irene's hands. Jarryd ran up with his sword drawn and tried to swing at Irene, who jumped away and landed next to her staff. Jarryd looked down to his father and looked him over.

"You ok, Dad?!" Jarryd asked, John Starks just laughed and hoisted himself onto his feet.

"I'm fine, but damn can this lass hit hard!" John said while dusting himself off, Jarryd gave his father the revolver he held in his hand.

"Take this and go help the others, I'll handle her…" Jarryd told his father, John took the gun and patted his adopted son on the shoulder.

"You took her down once, take her down again!" The pirate captain said before running out of the room and immediately firing rounds into multiple White Fang troops. Jarryd didn't look back, he was too focused on Irene, who picked up her staff and look Jarryd in the eyes.

"I was wondering when you'd show up. You just can't seem to leave me alone, can you?" Irene said flirtatiously, Jarryd furrowed his eyebrows and pointed his sword at her.

"Well now that I know you run with a group of terrorists, and I heard you were trying to kill my dad, so I couldn't help myself." Jarryd yelled out, anger swelling up as he remembered that the girl in front of him was the one who killed his friend, Penny.

"Terrorists? You still don't understand what we fight for…"

"I know exactly what the White Fang fights for!" Jarryd's reply seemed to confuse Irene, though Jarryd could tell she was amused.

"The White Fang? The White Fang is merely one piece of a greater puzzle…" Irene said, Jarryd didn't understand at first, but then he remembered the image of a chess piece that appeared on the screen in the stadium. Irene saw Jarryd's facial expression once he figured it out, she laughed at the widening of his eyes. "I think you understand now…" Jarryd decided he had heard enough and charged straight towards Irene. Jarryd swung his blade towards Irene's head, but she bent her torso backwards and avoided the attack. Irene repositioned her body and threw her shoulder into Jarryd's stomach.

Jarryd stumbled back and looked back at his opponent, who was standing straight with a hand on her hip and her staff in the other hand.

"You huntsmen and huntresses claim to fight for peace, and yet you still manage to start wars…" Irene said, giving her trademark annoying smirk. Jarryd charged forward again and swung at Irene's left side, which she blocked with her staff, making Jarryd's sword bounce off, giving Irene another opening as she thrusted the end of her staff into Jarryd's torso, knocking him to the ground. "But if the world is all united under one order, there will be no opposing governments to start wars against one another…"

Jarryd pushed himself up and gave one final charge, Irene swung her staff at his head, Jarryd quickly ducked and slashed Crimson Fury at her torso, slashing her across the chest and ripping her clothing. Jarryd kicked Irene in the stomach and sent her stumbling back.

"What you're talking about is creating peace through oppression, that isn't true peace!" Jarryd yelled as he swung overhead again, Irene held up her staff and blocked the attack, blade and staff now locked, their wielders trying to overpower the other.

"Then what is "True Peace", huh? Does anyone truly know?!" Irene pushed Jarryd's sword away as she fired an explosive round at Jarryd, sending him flying back out of the door and onto the deck of the ship. Jarryd tried to get up, but his body felt exhausted, and he fell right back onto the floor of the ship, his back feeling the wooden floorboards. He looked up and saw Irene walking towards him before she got lower and started to straddle him.

"Oh Jarryd...If only you knew the truth, we could have been so good together…" Irene said as she placed her staff against his forehead. "But sadly, you're still naive…" Jarryd felt blood rushing to every part of his body, his fight or flight instincts trying to kick in. "This is goodbye, Jarryd…" Before Irene could fire off a shot, Jarryd felt feeling return to his body, he quickly knocked the staff away and punched Irene in the side of the head with the handguard on his sword, knocking her off of him. Jarryd pushed himself up and quickly blocked and incoming staff swing with his blade.

"If naive means that I don't spill innocent blood, I'm perfectly fine with that!" Jarryd yelled as she swung his blade, locking itself in a struggle with her staff again. As both Jarryd and Irene pushed on each other's weapon Jarryd knew this had to end quickly, and his brain told him to do the first thing he thought of.

Jarryd grabbed his spare pistol and pointed the barrel directly into Irene's stomach, and pulled the trigger.

A loud 'bang' sounded off, Irene's typical cocky smirk replaced with a grimace of pain as she fell backwards onto the deck of the ship. Jarryd only realized now that both of their auras had been significantly low, due to their previous match, and he had just used real ammo. A pool of blood had been forming underneath Irene as she begun to cough. The fighting all around them had stopped as soon as Irene fell, Andrew and Jackson rushed over to them.

"Clever move, Starks...Didn't think you had it in you…" Irene said, struggling to get the word out, the three boys stood over her and were all looking at each other. "What are you waiting for? Finish me…" This command shocked the three, but they quickly shook it off.

"No! What you deserve is a long jail sentence!" Jackson yelled at his former teammate.

"Jail…? Oh Jackson, always the funny one…"

"What are you talking about?" Andrew asked, anger still seething through him from Irene's betrayal.

"If I go to prison, who says I won't just break out...and this cycle will have repeat itself…" Irene look Jarryd directly in the eyes, a painful smile forming on her face. "If you want to stop me...you have to kill me, now."

"No! Absolutely no! There's no way that we're just going to kill you, right guys!?" Jackson looked over to Jarryd and Andrew who only shared a look with each other and looked back at Jackson. Jackson's smile dropped. "You can't seriously be thinking about doing that!?"

"Jackson, it's ok...When I signed up to fight, I knew I was willing to fight and die for my cause...and I still stand by that, I still believe I did the right thing…I need you all to do the same…" Irene told the younger boy. Jackson tried to search for any alternative, but ultimately he found none.

"Are you...sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, I'm positive…"

Jarryd took a deep breath as he walked next to Irene, gun still in his hand, Irene quickly fished something out of her pocket, it was an envelope.

"I knew it would come to this...please, deliver this to my sister after this is all over...she needs to know the truth…" Jarryd took the envelope from Irene's hand and saw that there was an address on it. Jarryd passed the letter back to Andrew who took it and put his arm around Jackson.

"We'll make sure she gets it…" Jarryd told her.

"Thank you, Jarryd…"

"I'm sorry…"

Jarryd slowly pointed the barrel of his gun at Irene's head as he closed his eyes.

"Maybe...you can figure out what true peace really is…"

Jarryd took one last breath and held it, as he squeezed the trigger, resulting in an immediate loud noise, but it quickly faded into silence...Jarryd opened his eyes and saw a peaceful look on Irene's face, but there was no life in her eyes. He turned back around and saw Andrew and Jackson, who only gave him a nod.

The silence was broken when Jarryd felt his scroll vibrating in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and noticed Weiss was calling him, Jarryd quickly tapped the button to accept the call.

"Hey, Weiss."

" _Jarryd! Where are you? We need you back at Beacon, Grimm are tearing the place apart!"_

"Crap! I'll be right there, Weiss!"

" _Is Ruby there with you?"_ This question through Jarryd off, he remembered Ruby was on the ship when he had jumped off.

"No, why do you ask?"

" _She jumped off the airship shortly after you and those other 2 did, we thought she went after you!"_ This wasn't good, first he learns that Beacon is in the process of being destroyed, then he finds out his girlfriend is heaven knows where.

"I'm...I'm sure she's fine, she can take care of herself. But I'll be at Beacon shortly." Jarryd responded, Weiss just gave up and ended the call. Jarryd put his scroll away and turned to his father. "Dad…"

"Don't worry about us boy, go teach those Grimm a lesson!" John Starks then looked towards Irene's body. "We'll make sure to give her a proper burial…" Jarryd nodded at his dad's actions and he turned back to Andrew and Jackson.

"How exactly are we gonna get back to Beacon? All of the ships are already in the sky…" Andrew asked, looking around for any answer to that problem. Jarryd thought for a moment and thought of an idea. He poured out one of his water canisters and formed a large puddle.

"Grab on to me…" Jarryd said, standing in the middle of the puddle. The two brothers nodded and grabbed his shoulder. Jarryd put his hand over theirs and the three sank into the water, disappearing from the ship.

"I still have no idea how he figured that out…" John said silently to himself.

 **Beacon Academy Courtyard**

A loud splash was heard as Jarryd, Andrew, and Jackson all flew out of the courtyard fountains and landed on the pavement. Jackson and Andrew looked back at the fountain with shock.

"So THAT'S what happens when you do that!?" Jackson yelled towards Jarryd, pointing at the fountain. Jarryd was actually amused and chuckled a little bit.

"It takes a bit to get used to, I know."

"Hey you two, this conversation is riveting and all, but I think **that** should be our main focus…" Andrew said, as he pointed at the main building of Beacon, which was under attack by Grimm and was currently set ablaze.

"Dammit! Let's move!" Jarryd yelled out, running towards Beacon, Jackson and Andrew not far behind. The group was able to make it to the front door of the academy with very little trouble, but saw many of the students fighting Grimm in the same location. Jarryd turned back to the two brothers and gave them an order.

"Split up, help whoever you can!" Jarryd yelled to the two, who ran in opposite directions to help combat the Grimm, Jarryd saw Weiss out of the corner of his eye and ran over to her. "Weiss!" He called to her.

"There you are, you dolt!" Weiss yelled back to him. Jarryd looked around and noticed there was a certain lack of a blonde and dark-haired teammates.

"Where are Blake and Yang?"

"They ran into the building to help evacuate people, they've been in there for a while though…"

Jarryd suddenly remembered one of his visions, Blake had been stabbed by some guy with red hair, Yang then tried to fight him and ended up with her arm cut off, and it happened at Beacon.

"I'm going in!" Jarryd yelled out as he took off through the doors.

"Jarryd, what in Monty's name are you doing!?" Weiss cried out, Jarryd didn't listen as he took off towards his other two teammates.

As Jarryd ran, he paid no attention to any of the flames roaring around him, he just kept running towards that same spot he saw in his vision. A few students ran in terror past him as a Beowulf turned the corner and stared Jarryd directly in his eyes and it rushed at him. Jarryd grabbed his sword as the Beowulf swung at him, Jarryd jumped over the beast's arm and sliced at the grimm's neck, cutting the head clean off. Jarryd paid no attention to the creature's remains and kept running.

Jarryd stopped at a hole in a wall as he saw the same masked, red-haired person from his vision, he was standing over Blake, who was keeled over in pain. This man had already stabbed Blake. Jarryd turned to his right to see Yang, who had witnessed the same thing he did. Jarryd saw the rage boil up within Yang, and he saw her path of travel, Jarryd did the only thing he could think to do and ran forwards. Yang had activated her semblance and charged at the masked man, but Jarryd dived forward and pushed Yang out of the way. They both rolled to the side, Yang must have thought Jarryd was an attacker, because she did whatever she could to knock him off of her.

"Yang! Calm down, it's me, Jarryd!" Jarryd yelled as he avoided a punch from Yang, she opened her eyes and saw her male teammate, her hair and eyes started to shift back to their normal color.

"Jarryd?" Yang asked, Jarryd nodded and helped Yang to her feet. "Why did you stop me!?"

"Because if I didn't, you could have been killed!" Jarryd yelled back at her, her expression immediately softened. "But that doesn't matter right now…" Jarryd said as he turned back to where the masked person stood over Blake. Jarryd poured out one of his water canisters and unholstered a pistol. "Yang, when I say go, grab Blake and get her out of here...I'll deal with this guy."

"What!? I'm not leaving you here!"

"Blake's hurt! She needs to get to safety…" Jarryd said, aiming his pistol at the red headed boy.

Jarryd walked towards the man and began to fire his revolver, the man blocked every bullet with a swing of his sword. As Jarryd fired, a trail of water snuck of next to the man. After a few more shots, Jarryd swung his arm forward and created a wall of water in between the man and Blake.

"Yang, go!" Once the cue was given, Yang sprinted forward and scooped up Blake in her arms. The water wall disappeared as the masked man appeared from behind, crimson katana still in hand. Blake was able to speak.

"Jarryd...don't fight him…" Blake said in her weakened state, Jarryd turned back to her and gave her a smile.

"Don't worry Blake, I'll be fine...Yang, get her out of here!" Jarryd yelled at the blonde, who didn't hesitate anymore and ran towards the academy's exit. Jarryd put away his pistol and grabbed his sword again as he tried to stare this man down, but he couldn't tell if the man was looking at him from behind his mask.

"So, before we get this started, who are you? I'm Jarryd, last name Starks, if you didn't know that already…" Jarryd asked the man, who's expression never changed, after a few seconds of silence, he spoke up.

"Call me 'Adam...'"

"Adam, huh?" Jarryd asked. "Well Adam, it's time you learn something…" Jarryd raised his sword and pointed it at Adam. "Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

"Then make me pay for it…"

Once given the invitation, Jarryd ran straight towards Adam, blade at their sides. Jarryd swung overhead, which was quickly matched with a block from Adam. Jarryd kept swinging, but Adam seemed to block every strike with inhuman speed. Adam swung sideways as Jarryd's neck, but he was able to put up his sword and kept himself from getting decapitated. Jarryd pushed the blades in front of them as the two crimson blades were interlocked. Adam spoke up while they struggled.

"Cinder told me about you...she thought you would be one of the biggest thorns in her side…I have yet to see why…"

"Well you can tell Cinder that she has no chance of winning this war!" Jarryd yelled in Adam's face.

Adam quickly pushed on Jarryd's blade, sending his sword arm up over his head. Adam swung his blade upwards while Jarryd wasn't able to block. Jarryd felt something run across his face, followed by the worst pain he had ever felt.

He let out a wail of pain as he landed on the ground, holding the area where the blade struck his face. He opened his eyes to see his hand, but something wasn't quite right, he could only see out of his right eye, and he saw blood all over his hand that was covering what Adam hit: his left eye.

Jarryd turned and saw Adam slowly walking towards him, ready to finish him off, but Jarryd saw that there was a puddle from his earlier wall of water that he used to separate Adam and Blake. Jarryd threw his arm forward, sending a wave of water at Adam, who disappeared under it.

When the water had cleared, Adam was nowhere to be found. Jarryd looked around to see if he was waiting for Jarryd to let his guard down, but saw nothing. He pulled himself to his feet, hand once again covering his eye as he knew he needed to get out of the building. Jarryd put his sword in his sheathe and ran back towards the courtyard.

Dodging the flames, Jarryd was able to sneak past any more Grimm that were hiding in the building. He took his hand off of his left eye and felt nothing but blood running down his face and on his hand. He tried opening his left eye again and closing his right, this time, the world went dark. He opened his right eye again and kept running towards the exit.

 **Beacon Courtyard**

"Has everyone been evacuated?!"

"Not yet, Jarryd's still in there!" Yang yelled out, as the students outside all grouped up. A gust of wind picked up, and suddenly Ruby was hugging her sister.

"Yang! Is everyone ok?!"

"Ruby! Everyone is fine, some White Fang guy in there stabbed Blake though…" Yang said, pointing to the cat faunus, who was being held close by Sun.

"What!? Where is that guy now!?" Ruby asked her sister, anxiety flowing through her.

"Jarryd's inside dealing with him, he told me just to get Blake to safety."

"He's still in there? I have to go!"

"Ruby wait-" But before Ruby could even run off, the doors to the academy swung open, revealing Jarryd, who was holding his hand over his eye. Everyone turned to look as Jarryd saw everyone. Ruby walked towards him, something was wrong.

"Jarryd…"

Jarryd turned and looked at Ruby, he took his hand away from his face to reveal the damage Adam had done to him.

A big gash, running through his left eye, or more like where it used to be…

Ruby stood in shock, her hands now covering her mouth.

"Ruby…" Jarryd said as he tried to walk towards her, but he stumbled and started to fall. Ruby quickly ran over and caught him before he hit the ground. Yang ran up and grabbed Jarryd's other side, the two sisters carried Jarryd over to where Blake had been lying. They sat him down, Blake looking on in horror at what Adam had done.

"Jarryd...Adam, he…"

"He's tough, got me good…" Jarryd told Blake, who felt guilty about Jarryd's wound, along with Yang. Jarryd felt a hand hit him in the back of the head.

"You dolt! You're missing an eye and all you say is 'he got you good!?' What were you thinking!?" It was Weiss who had slapped him, Jarryd felt around the area of the wound and Weiss was right, his left eye was completely gone, cut out of the socket.

"I couldn't let anyone else get hurt…"

"Yet you ended up getting hurt instead!" As Weiss continued to belittle him, Ruby knelt down beside him and wrapped Jarryd into a hug. Jarryd took a second to recognize what was going on before he hugged his girlfriend back. Andrew and Jackson ran up beside him. Jackson turned away at the sight of the wound.

"Oh god! Dude you need a doctor or something!

"I'll be fine…" Jarryd waved him off, Andrew knelt down and examined his eye.

"A semblance is able to regenerate minor injuries, but a missing eye...You may be out of luck, Jarryd…" Andrew told the pirate, who just squinted as he held Ruby close. A thought came to him. He saw both Nora and Ren, but not the other two members of JNPR.

"Wait, where's Pyrrha and Jaune?" Jarryd asked, everyone looked around. Suddenly Weiss's scroll started to ring.

"Speak of the devil, it's Jaune!" She quickly answered the call. "Where are you?"

" _Weiss, please! You have to stop her!"_

"What? Jaune what's going on?" Weiss replied.

" _It's Pyrrha! She's going after that woman, at the top of the tower! She doesn't stand a chance!"_ Jaune yelled through the scroll, everyone looked at the top of the tower, they all saw a few explosions coming from the top, where Ozpin's office was.

"Jaune where are y-"

" _Don't worry about me, please...you have to save Pyrrha…"_

"Jaune are you ok?" Weiss asked, then a scream of rage was heard from the other side of the line and static replace Jaune's voice.

"Jeez...He's got a bit of a temper…" Jackson said, but was quickly interrupted when a large Grimm landed nearby on a part of the academy and it started to climb the tower, it was the largest grimm any of them had ever seen.

"Uh...What the hell is that!?"

"Whatever it is, it doesn't matter right now, we need to get to Pyrrha!" Jarryd yelled up at Andrew helped him to his feet. He glanced around, looking for anyway to get to the top of the tower. He then looked to Ruby and had an idea. "Ruby, use your semblance and run up the side of the tower!" Everyone looked at Jarryd, thinking over his plan. Ruby didn't know if she should.

"I'm not sure I can…"

"Ruby, you're the only one able to get up there fast enough at this moment, I know you can do this. I believe in you Ruby, we all do…" Jarryd said, hand covering his gash. Everyone nodded, agreeing with Jarryd. Ruby took a few seconds before agreeing. She took off like a lightning bolt, and ran straight up the side of the building.

Jarryd looked on with pride, then he felt really weak as his leg came out from under him, landing on the ground. His vision got blurry as he kept staring at the top of the tower. After a few seconds of quiet. A blinding white light came from the top of the tower, enveloping all of Beacon.

It was at that moment, Jarryd blacked out…

 **AND HOLY CRAP I'M FINALLY DONE.**

 **I know I keep saying this, but I'm sorry I churn these out so late, this chapter took a lot longer than expected. I intended it to be the final chapter, but that would have taken even longer, as I have a plan.**

 **School problems, me being in the theatre program, relationships, you name it and it's gotten in the way of me writing.**

 **I hope I didn't disappoint with the wait, I guess that's up for everyone else to decide.**

 **I'm gonna get right to work on writing the Epilogue and get that out ASAP.**

 **Until next time!**


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